


Kinslayers and the Avatar

by Iceheart101



Series: Kinslayers and the Avatar [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Crossover, Fingon loves Tea, Fingon probably, Gen, If you got to adopt two traumatized children then I can adopt this one, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Iroh (Avatar) loves Tea, It's Zuko, Maedhros and Fingon adopt Zuko, Maedhros doesn't know either, Maedhros is kind of depressed, My First Work in This Fandom, Not super Graphic, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Past Child Abuse, Past Torture, Protective Fingon, Protective Iroh, Sometimes your family is just your crazy uncle and two maybe spirits in a boat, Suspicious Zuko, Violence, Work In Progress, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko and Maedhros aren't impressed, Zuko has yet to realize he got adopted, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, actually, at some point, because Maedhros, he gets some help, in both fandoms, kind of, more tags will probably be added, no oaths, now with me attempting to quenya, that needs to be said, they have tea parties
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:01:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 47,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24815761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iceheart101/pseuds/Iceheart101
Summary: The Avatar flew off leaving Zuko's ship damaged and covered in ice.  Fortunately, two elves arrive at the perfect time to help out.  Now, Zuko has some of the greatest elves from the first age helping him find the Avatar.  Nothing would stop him from returning to his rightful place at his father's side.I'm bad at summaries please read it anyway!
Relationships: Fingon & Iroh, Fingon & Zuko, Fingon | Findekáno/Maedhros | Maitimo, Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Maedhros & Iroh, Maedhros & Zuko
Series: Kinslayers and the Avatar [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1811686
Comments: 192
Kudos: 85





	1. Stop Inviting People Places Without Asking Me!

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, this was a stray thought in my mind because I recently read the Silmarillion and then watched Avatar, and Zuko and Maedhros are some of my favorite characters from that. It's my first time writing them so I'm doing my best to figure out their characters, hopefully I won't do super bad at it.
> 
> If the summary didn't make sense I'm basically yeeting Maedhros and Fingon at Zuko and running. They will eventually join the Gaang, but first, they need to have a couple of misadventures of their own.
> 
> If you have any questions about how I got Middle Earth to cohabitate with the world of Avatar just ask, I did plan it out and it seems to make sense to me. I won't write it down because I'll probably take to long getting to the point here :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just gonna get this out there, I've done the bare minimum of editing do I'd you find an error leave a comment telling me where and what it is, please!
> 
> This chapter is pretty short but if I write more they should be longer.

Zuko glared at the receding figure of the sky bison. He had been so close to finally being able to return home before those two water tribe peasants arrived with the bison and ruined everything. Now his ship was stuck in an iceberg and he would need to get repairs before being able to continue the chase. On the bright side, Zuko mused, the avatar hadn't mastered any of the elements but air and was finally out of hiding.

Zuko turned around and looked at his crew. Most of them had gotten out of the ice and the fire benders were working in melting the ice. Uncle was watching the crew. Zuko wished they could go faster but he knew they would need to be careful as to not further damage the Wani.

"Hail, friends!" a voice calls. Zuko frowned and moved to the edge of the deck where Uncle was looking down. An elegant white ship floated next to the Wani. It looked almost like a swan, and nothing like the boats he had seen the water tribe use. There were two people standing on it.

One was wearing blue clothing with gold trims. He had black hair glittering with gold braids. The man was smiling and waving at them. The other one was wearing red and gold, which was a much more reasonable color and had flaming red hair. He wasn't looking at them as he was paying more attention to making sure their boat didn't hit anything.

"We've noticed that your ship seems to be stuck and are offering to help if you will take it," the blue man said.

Before Zuko even had the chance to yell at them that this didn't concern them. After all, they had to be water tribe to be in a boat this far south. (Although the boat looked nothing like anything anyone could make and one of them was wearing fire nation-ish clothing.) Uncle accepted their invitations. A rope ladder was unfurled along the edge of the Wani and the two men climbed aboard.

The blue one was pretty tall, but not tall enough to stick one. The red one towered over everyone on the boat. Up close Zuko noticed a couple of other things, primarily that the people's ears were pointed strangely and their eyes almost seemed to glow. It wasn't hard to imagine them as spirits, but they obviously couldn't be. There were no spirits that looked like that.

Zuko shot a discreet glare at Uncle for not even waiting to hear what he would say about this before letting the men on. They could be water benders that were hiding in that village ready to further the damage to his ship! It soon became clear that they weren't water benders or fire benders for that matter. They stood for a second looking at the mess of snow and ice on the deck. The red one sighed and went back down to their boat to grab shovels. When he came back Zuko noticed that he was missing his right hand, not to mention had some pretty heavy scarring on his face.

Surprisingly they manage to get the snow off faster than the fire benders. Going even faster once they started singing some song. Zuko stood too far away to hear the words and he didn't recognize the tune, although it did make him think of warm summers and small creeks of trickling water. Zuko shook his head slightly to dispel those thoughts, they wouldn't help him capture the avatar, and noticed that all the snow and had been melted away or flung off the boat.

Now that the ice was gone and they could finally leave this cursed, freezing, disgusting place Zuko turned his attention to the men, fully ready to tell them to get off his ship and leave. Of course, before he got the chance to say that Uncle stepped in again.

"Thank you for your kind assistance," Uncle said. "Perhaps you would be willing to stay for tea?" Zuko scowled at him. Next, he'll be asking the men to play a game of Pai Sho, and then they'll be here for hours.

"We would be honored to accept your kind invitation," the blue man said.

Uncle smiled at them. One of the crewmen retreated under the deck, probably to grab Uncle's tea set. "My name is Iroh, may I get yours?" Now they were never going to leave, it would be just Zuko's luck to have them love talking about proverbs and tea.

"I am Fingon, of the house of Fingolfin," the man in blue said with a small bow.

"Maedhros," the red one said, he hesitated for a split second. "Son of Fëanor." Zuko had no idea who Fëanor was or the 'house of Fingolfin' so it obviously wasn't important. Now they just had to hurry up and have their stupid tea and then they could leave and Zuko could continue tracking down the Avatar. Hopefully, before someone else found out he was still alive and thought to try their luck and get him for themselves.

The crewman came back, setting down the small table with the tea set on the deck. Uncle sat down and Fingon and Maedhros followed his lead. Uncle poured out the tea into cups and looked at Zuko. "You should join us, Nephew," he said, holding out a cup.

Zuko glared down at the cup. "I don't want any tea," he said angrily.

"Are you sure? It is quite delicious," Uncle said.

"Yes, I'm going up to the bridge to plot out our new course," Zuko said, turning on his heel and stalking away from Uncle and his new tea buddies.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to do at the bridge. Everyone knew they had to get repairs and the safest place to do that would be at one of the fire nation docks. The only one Zuko could go to was manned by Commander Zhao. Zuko lingered as long as he could in the bridge without actually having to do anything before walking back down to the deck. Uncle was still talking with the men, and it looked like they actually liked tea.

As Zuko walked closer he heard what they were talking about.

"What was that flying thing we saw when we sailed up?" Maedhros (that was his name, right?) asked.

"A flying bison, probably one of the last ones alive," Uncle said, sipping at his tea.

Fingon smiled excitedly, "You can ride them, right? I'm pretty sure I saw a saddle and maybe someone on it."

Uncle nodded and Fingon looked extremely happy. For what reason Zuko didn't know, why did it matter if the Avatar had a flying bison so he could easily escape from Zuko. "Uncle, we need to go, not sit wasting time drinking tea," he said. Hopefully, they would get the memo that Zuko didn't want them on his ship.

"I apologize for my nephew, he can be quite impatient," Uncle said instead of helping Zuko. Zuko almost growled at them, almost.

The two men nodded seriously and gave Uncle slightly pitying looks. "I'm sure he'll learn patience, it may take a while but he'll get there," Fingon said.

Uncle smiled at them. Great, he had definitely made some new friends and was probably going to invite them to music night and then they'll never leave and will probably end up helping the Avatar and Zuko will never get home- he noticed that Uncle was looking at him worryingly and noticed his smoking hands.

"We don't have time for any of this!" Zuko yelled, he wanted to flip the table but that would break Uncle's tea set, it was one of his nicer ones, and Zuko didn't want to break it. "The Avatar is already getting farther the longer we wait here and we need repairs!"

Uncle sighed and drank the rest of his tea. "We would not want to keep you waiting from your destination," he said.

Fingon set his cup down. "If you would wish we will offer our help in tracking the...Avatar," he said. Maedhros shot a glare at him but didn't say anything.

Uncle smiled, "We would be honored to accept your invitation!" he said quickly. Zuko glared at Uncle again. "Although I don't know what we are going to do about your ship," he added.

Maedhros looked over the edge at the swan boat floating serenely in the waves. "If it would be easier we can sail alongside you," he said. "We could provide hidden backup should it be needed," he added as a second thought.

Zuko nodded, that was perfect. Then they wouldn't be on the ship the entire time and if they were spies it would be more difficult to learn anything while they are not their own boat. "Then you can follow behind us," he said before Uncle could invite them to stay on the Wani.

"Oh, but you should come to music night tonight. We can tow your boat alongside us on the way," Uncle said. Music night!? Why would Uncle invite them to that. Now that they had guests Uncle was going to ask Zuko to play the stupid Tsungi horn and it was going to be horrible.

"We accept your invitation," Fingon said with a smile. Zuko spotted Maedhros's eye twitch for a second. He didn't look as thrilled at the prospect of music night as his companion did. As soon as it was clear that they were going to be staying on the Wani until some point tomorrow morning, their conversation turned to where Maedhros and Fingon were from as shortly led to weird spirit talk.

Zuko quickly left, heading back to his rook for some needed meditation. As he settled down and watched the flickering flames, Zuko thought over the events of the day. The Avatar was still alive, and better yet, had only mastered one element. He was only a kid! Zuko would just need to be a bit more careful next time he captured the Avatar. Before the year ends Zuko will be back at the palace by his father's side.

Perhaps the strange men would actually prove useful, they might actually be honest in helping Zuko capture the Avatar. Hopefully, they wouldn't decide that he was wrong and the Avatar needed to stop his nation and his own father.

After an hour of meditating, Zuko stood up. He walked out of his room and towards the deck where he was sure Uncle still was. The boat had started moving at some point. Maedhros and Fingon would need to stay away while they were at the harbor and Zuko could only hope that Zhao wouldn't be overly disturbing. The sunlight met his face as he stepped out onto the deck and walked towards Uncle. For once, things were suddenly going his way. Everything was going to be (mostly) fine.


	2. It's Commander Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahahhaahha, you know how I said the next chapter would probably be longer???
> 
> Umm, it got longer.
> 
> By a lot more then I originally meant.
> 
> This covers the Southern Air Temple episode and next with be Kyoshi Island!

"From the last light of the trees the sun and moon were made," Fingon said. "And that's why they glow."

Uncle was nodding along as though Fingon had just imparted great wisdom. Zuko had no idea what they were talking about, trees didn't make the sun and moon, they were obviously wrong. He wondered if now would be a good time to leave before Uncle pulled out the Pai Sho board. Zuko turned around to leave, he actually had a chance to get out before Uncle noticed him.

"Zuko, would you go get my Pai Sho board from my room?" Uncle asked. Well, he could've been asked to stay and talk so this was better. Only slightly. A prince should not have to go and gather things. Unfortunately, there was no one around to conveniently order to get Uncle's game. He grabs the board and makes his way back to Fingon and Uncle, handing it to them.

Zuko spotted Maedhros against the railing. He must have given up on being a part of the conversation once it turned to glowing tree nonsense. He walked over to the man and wondered if now would be a good time to attempt subtle interrogation.

Zuko stood next to Maedhros as he attempted to find a way to start his interrogation. "How'd you lose your hand," Zuko blurted out. He had been wondering about it since he noticed the hand was missing. He wasn't going to say anything because he hated when people asked about his scar but it was too late to take it back now.

Maedhros looked down at Zuko. Agni why does he have to be so ridiculously tall? "I was trapped and Fingon cut it off," he said after a moment of thought.

That was not what Zuko had been expecting. Now he had more questions he wanted to ask. For example: how the heck do you get so stuck that someone needs to cut off your hand? Or he could ask where he had been trapped and figure out where they might be from that way. "Where were you trapped?" Zuko asked.

A dark look passed over Maedhros' face. "A cliff," he said. Azula would probably know how to use that bit of information but Zuko had no idea where to even start with finding out Maedhros' home.

"That's...rough," Zuko said awkwardly. He would need to practice his interrogation. Although this was a stealth interrogation, so it was obviously going to be more difficult.

Zuko decided to give up on his attempts at being subtle. Azula was always going to be better at this than he was. Not to mention, he didn't have the patience to puzzle out where Maedhros was from. "Where are you from?" he asked.

"Valinor," Maedhros responded. Zuko blinked in stunned surprise. He wasn't actually expecting an answer, although Valinor might not be one because he had never heard of a town or city named that. "It's in the west," he added.

Valinor was obviously a small island somewhere near the Fire Nation then. It must be remarkably small for no one to have noticed it but at least he knew where to find these people's home if needed. Zuko looked down to the boat. It was still tied up next to the Wani and the rope ladder leading down to it was there.

"I'm going to go look at your ship," Zuko said. He wasn't going to ask he was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. If Uncle wasn't so concentrated on his game then he would probably tell Zuko to ask. Luckily, he was too focused which meant that Zuko didn't have to be polite to commoners. He turned on his heel and walked towards the ladder.

The swan boat was made of a light white wood, it had a sail so an ample portion of the deck was taken up by ropes for said sail. Zuko walked along the edges of the boat. There was incredibly detailed carvings of some sort of writing system Zuko had yet to see and stars with flowers and birds. Spotting a staircase leading down into the ship he walked over to it. Below the deck was dark. Zuko picked up a lantern sitting by the stairs and lit it.

The carvings along the wall looked like trees with interlacing branches around the few doorways. Zuko walked to the first doorway he saw and threw it open. Inside was what was obviously an armory. There was only two sets of armor, although it was much different then anything Zuko had ever seen. The armor had an elegant long about it along with engravings running along the metal plates in what looked to be more stars and other fancy things like that.

Along the other edge were weapons. There were what was obviously spare swords, Maedhros and Fingon had been wearing them. Along with a couple different bows and a...harp. Zuko wasn't sure why there was a harp it wasn't a weapon of any sort. They must have not had anywhere to store it than the armory, that sounded right. There was no way someone would bring a harp with them in any circumstances excluding music night.

Finding nothing else of that much interest in the room Zuko turned to leave and continue his exploration of the boat. Standing at the doorway was Maedhros. Zuko hadn't heard him follow him onto the boat. Zuko walked over to the doorway and Maedhros stepped aside allowing Zuko to continue his inspection.

The next door yielded much more useful items. A large table took up most of the room, along with several books and maps. Zuko placed the lantern on the edge of the table and looked down at the maps.

The completely useless maps.

There were no recognizable landmarks anywhere and it was covered in weird loopy writing that Zuko couldn't understand. One of the maps wasn't even close to being finished. It only had what might pass as pieces of the south pole but everything else was missing.

The books where even less useful than the maps had been. They had the same loopy writing and the few pictures he could see made no sense. Zuko turned angrily over to where Maedhros was standing. "What," he said, gesturing to the useless maps and books, "are these."

______________________

Maedhros stared at Zuko in disguised amusement. The kid kind of reminded Maedhros of Elros. With the whole ready to fight the world thing he had going. "They're books," he said in answer to the teen's frustration.

"I see that," snapped Zuko. "But they're useless!"

Oh, men must have stopped using the tengwar. "The style of writing is very old," Maedhros said. "I expect it has not been used for many years." If no one remembered what the tengwar looked like then the chance was higher that the stories of the first age have been forgotten.

Meadhros wasn't sure how he felt about that yet. On the positive side no one was calling him a murderer. On the negative side, should anything from the first age show up no one would know how to deal with it.

"Then why do you know it!" Zuko almost shouted.

Maedhros shrugged. "If no one knows it no one can read it," he said. "It's useful should someone intercept messages," he added. Of course he also would use a code in that scenario but no one knowing the language would help.

Zuko looked back at the maps and books.m with a new interest. "What do they say?" he asked.

Maedhros walked closer, stopping slightly behind and to the right of Zuko. Zuko's eyes flicked over to him quickly before looking back down at the table. "The maps just have location names and where people would be more friendly to us than others," he started. "The books contain information that we know of Middle Earth since the last came over the sea," he said. Including mentions of his brother. Maglor seemed to be taking his decision to wander by the shore forever literally. Half the reason Maedhros and Fingon came back was to find him and bring him home.

Zuko looked at him strangely when he mentioned Middle Earth. What had happened while he was in the Halls? It sounded like everyone just forgot what had happened between the rising of the sun and the last War of the Ring.

Maedhros was going to ask Zuko what they now called Middle Earth before Fingon interrupted with tidings that dinner was being served. Zuko grabbed the lamp and headed up after sending one last look at the maps. Perhaps it would do well to teach him Quenya, Maedhros mused as he followed the teen.

______________________

The excursion onto the swan boat left Zuko with more questions then he had when he walked onto the boat. Middle Earth was another unknown area of land. It could mean the middle of the Earth Kingdom, though none of those maps resembled anything like the Earth Kingdom.

It was a clear night and as Zuko stepped back aboard the Wani he noticed that Uncle had taken all the instruments and set them onto the deck. A table was laden with an ample supply of food. It was probably a ploy so that it would be harder for Zuko to escape music night.

A couple crewmen were already milling around the table holding plates with food. Fingon was poking at the instruments with Uncle pointing out different ones and obviously explaining what they were.

Zuko walked over to the table and quickly piled food onto a plate before walking away. "Zuko! You should really play the tsungi horn tonight for our guests!" Uncle called. Zuko froze for a split second, trying to decide if it would be worth it to run. If he could just get to his room he would be safe from music night.

As always, Zuko's luck fails him. He gets dragged back to the middle of the deck. Zuko is allowed to finish his meal until Uncle all but shoved the tsungi horn at him. Better to get this over with as quickly as possible. Uncle wrangled a couple other people into grabbing instruments.

At Uncle's command they started playing. It was one of the worst performances Zuko had ever heard or been apart of. Despite not wanting to, he started to actually play. Hopefully, they wouldn't completely fail at this song. As Zuko actually started to try to play he realized he actually knew this song. Uncle was making them play the Blue Spirit's Theme.

The song seemed to go on forever. When it finally ended Zuko set down the horn and stood up, ready to make his escape. It would've worked if Fingon hadn't pulled out his harp and asked what song he had been playing.

Zuko sighed angrily and slightly embarrassed. Out of the few things that Zuko was actually good at the tsungi horn had to be one of them. "The Blue Spirits Theme," he said.

Fingon nodded. "I had not yet heard a song like that before," he said.

Uncle wandered over to them. "Do you play anything?" he asked Fingon. Zuko prayed to Agni that Fingon was actually good at playing something. It was even more painful to listen to a bunch of new musicians attempting to play new instruments.

Fingon lit up. "I have a harp on my boat," he said. The harp that Zuko had seen in the armory must have been Fingon's. "I can go grab it and play something for you," he said excitedly. Uncle nodded and Fingon sprung away towards the ladder.

Fingon returned holding the harp. Maedhros had been standing by the food and when be noticed he stared blankly at the harp. "You have got to be kidding me, how did that harp survive," he said.

Fingon shrugged. "I don't know," he said with a glint in his eye. Then he sat down and strummed a couple chords before starting an unknown song. The music was sweet as falling water and Fingon started singing along. After a couple moments Maedhros joined in.

They sang well into the night. Zuko, for once, realized that he wasn't as upset over the fact that he was still at music night. Maedhros and Fingon were better than anyone Zuko had ever heard.

By the time they had finished the moon had reached its zenith. The last couple notes rang out into the night and Fingon set down his harp. "What was that?" Zuko asked.

"A song about the mingling of the lights of the two trees," Maedhros said.

Again with the glowing trees. Trees don't glow unless they were on fire or something weird and spirit related was going on. "It was very long," Zuko said. He wasn't really that upset at that fact, now he wouldn't need to play the tsungi horn for what would hopefully end up being a long time and he didn't need to listen to terrible music.

"That's actually one of the shorter songs I know," Fingon said. "The longest I know is the Noldelantë, though there is no time to play that here," he added.

"What's it about?" Zuko asked.

"One of the darkest times in the history of the world," Maedhros said. "It is not something many of us like to remember," he said. That was kind of strange, they must be older than they looked.

There was a small moment of awkward silence where no one quite new what to say to that. Fingon stood up and walked over to Maedhros. "I believe that it is already late now, we will retire to our ship and rejoin with you in the morning," he said, grabbing Maedhros and dragging him away.

"Well, that was an amazing music night," Uncle said once the two men slipped back to their boat. Zuko nodded and then turned to go towards his room. They should be near Zhao's harbor and he would need his sleep to deal with that horrible excuse of a human.

______________________

Zuko woke up as the first of the sun's rays appeared over the horizon. He lit a candle and spent some time meditating before heading up to the deck.

Fingon was talking to Uncle and holding a scroll. Maedhros wasn't around so Zuko assumed he was still on the boat. "Good morning, Prince Zuko," Uncle said. "We will be arriving at the harbor in an hour, Fingon and Maedhros will be meeting up with us after we have gotten repairs," he said.

It made sense that they wouldn't follow the Wani to get repairs. No one had ever seen a ship like that and they wouldn't be welcomed if no one knew where they were from.

Fingon nodded. "We will stay in this area for three days, if you have not yet arrived we will make for your next supply stop," he said.

Zuko nodded. They shouldn't be held up that long, the repairs won't take up three days. "If anyone else talks to you before we return, say nothing about the Avatar," he added. So far no one in the fire nation should know that the Avatar had returned. Zuko would have some time before others started looking for him.

Fingon nodded. "Tenne enta lúmë," he said with a shallow bow before stepping down the ladder to his boat. The ladder and ropes were tied off and the swan boat slipped away from the Wani. Zuko watched as they left and wondered at the words Fingon had spoken. Perhaps it was the same language as what was written on the books and maps.

Zuko turned and walked up to the bridge, the dark landmass was steadily getting closer. As long as no one said anything about the Avatar Zhao won't have a reason to be more unpleasant than he already is.

As they reached the harbor Zuko turned to Uncle. "Don't mention anything about the Avatar," he said. "I don't want anyone else learning he's alive."

Uncle nodded and walked with Zuko as they stepped onto the shore. "I won't tell anyone," he said carelessly. It was obvious Uncle hadn't been paying Zuko that much attention.

"Tell anyone what?" came the voice of none other than Zhao. "Prince Zuko," he said in way of greeting.

Zuko scowled at him. "Captain Zhao," he said with as much disgust and contempt as he could muster.

Zhao smirked at Zuko. "It's Commander Zhao, now," he said pridefully. If Zuko could fire end with his eyes Zhao would be a pile of ashes from the force of his glare. "General Iroh," Zhao said with a bow. Zuko felt his scowl deepen. Of course Zhao wouldn't bow for Zuko, despite being Crown Prince, but would for his lazy, tea loving uncle.

Uncle actually bowed back! To the unworthy piece of scum. "Retired general," he said cheerfully.

"The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests anytime," Zhao said. "What brings you to my harbor?"

Knowing what the Wani looked like right now Zuko thought it was a little redundant to ask that. They were obviously in need of repairs and it wasn't like they had ever come here to do anything other than that. "Our ship is being repaired," Uncle said, gesturing behind him.

Zhao looked at the Wani. "Yes, that is quite a bit of damage," he said.

Zuko noticed Uncle opening his mouth to reply and quickly started talking. "Yes. You wouldn't believe what happened!" he said. Zuko's eyes widened as he realized that he hadn't thought beyond stopping Uncle from telling Zhao about the Avatar. "Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened," he said. Maybe actually using the man's title would help to make him ask more.

"Yes. I will do that. It was incredible," Uncle said, gesturing wildly with his hands. "Did we crash or something?" he whispered to Zuko.

"Yes!. Right into an Earth Kingdom ship!" Zuko said. Zhao was staring at them, it was obvious he didn't believe them.

"Really?" he drawled, "You must regale me with all the thrilling details." Zhao leaned forwards into Zuko's face. "Join me for a drink?" he asked.

Zuko looked away from the commander's smirking face. "Sorry, but we have to go," he said. A quick glance behind him showed that most of the damage had been repaired.

"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect," Uncle said. Of all times now was the time Uncle decided that Zuko needed to use his manners and be polite. Probably because there would be tea. "We would be honored to join you. Do you have ginseng tea? It is my favorite," Uncle said.

______________________

Zhao kept going on about all the different battles they were going to win and everything that would be under their control before the end of the year. Uncle was behind Zuko, looking at the rack of weapons. "The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war," Zhao said as he turned around to face Zuko.

Zuko scoffed. "If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool," he said angrily. Just because they get control of the Earth Kingdom capital under their control doesn't mean that everyone would give up. They would still need to deal with the Water Tribe attacks.

Zhao walked over to Zuko and stopped on his left side. Zuko continued looking ahead. He couldn't really see out that eye, but turning would show that and he wasn't going to give Zhao that weakness. "Two years at sea have done little to tame your temper," Zhao said. "Tell me, how is your search for the Avatar going?"

A loud crash from behind them forced Zhao to move away from Zuko. Uncle had knocked over the weapon stand. "My fault, entirely," Uncle said apologetically. He moved away from the weapons stand and one of the guards in the room moved to pick it up.

"We haven't found anything yet," Zuko said angrily. By now the Wani would be repaired and they would be able to leave.

"Did you really think you would?" Zhao said mockingly. "The Avatar died a hundred years ago, along with the rest of the airbenders." He turned around to face Zuko. "Unless, you have found some new evidence that the Avatar is alive."

Zuko glared at Zhao. "No," he said.

Zhao stared at Zuko. "The Avatar is the greatest threat against the Fire Lord, if you have an ounce of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you found," he said. Zhao had leaned into Zuko's face again.

"I haven't found anything," Zuko said. He stood up and grabbed Uncle. "Come on, Uncle, we're leaving."

Just as they reach the exit of the tent the two guards block them from leaving with their spears. "Commander Zhao," a soldier said as he walked in. "We interrogated the crew as you asked. The Avatar was on their ship but escaped. There was also another ship that met with them afterwards," he reported.

"Send a ship to find the Prince's new friends," Zhao said as he walked up behind Zuko. "Now tell me, how exactly was your shop damaged?"

______________________

Fingon was looking back at the harbor. They had sailed a short distance away and were waiting for Zuko to come meet them. He watched as a large ship, definitely not the Wani, leave the harbor and sail towards them. "Nelyo, we have incoming," Fingon said. Now that they were in private he used the shortened Quenya form of Maedhros' name. While they could speak Quenya in Valinor without angering most elves, it was still a habit to use their Sindarin names around new people. It was also easier for men to pronounce their Quenya name.

Maedhros looked up from where he was polishing his sword and joined Fingon in looking at the approaching ship. They'll be here soon, we should wear our armor, I have a feeling we may have to deal with a fight," he said. Fingon nodded and made his way below deck, he grabbed his and Maedhros' armor and brought them up.

It was familiar slipping into his armor. They had not needed it in Valinor, and Fingon didn't miss not having to be on guard every second of their lives, but there was a comforting thought of wearing trusted armor.

They watched as the ship grew closer. Maedhros had been right. As soon as they were close enough for a man to see details they started launching flamingo rocks at them. Maedhros and Fingon turned their ship and started sailing straight for their new enemies.

As they got closer, the ship stopped trying to sink them. They pulled up alongside the metal sides and leaped from the smaller swan boat. Fingon and Maedhros' swords shone in the light. The elven forged steel cut through the soldiers armor like a hot knife through butter. Within seconds the remaining crew was backing up, eyeing the sharp swords fearfully. The gentle lapping of the ocean against the sides of the two boats and the scared look on their opponents eyes reminded Fingon uncomfortably of Alqualondë.

He quickly dismissed the thought as he noticed the soldiers moving into offensive positions and preparing to fight. Instead of using traditional weapons, the soldiers used fire. It was nothing like the swords and whips of the Balrogs, but close enough that it was slightly uncomfortable. Fingon tightened his grip in his sword and leaped forwards with Maedhros. The flames licked at his armor but didn't damage it and soon there was a coating of blood around Fingon and Maedhros as they cut their way through the soldiers.

By the time they reached the bridge door everyone on the boat was dead. They didn't allow anyone to go alive in the fear that they would steal the swan boat and sail away. Or worse, burn it. The door was locked and after a half hearted attempt at knocking, Maedhros kicked it open.

Inside were only a few men, they killed everyone but one. "Who sent you," Maedhros demanded. His eyes shined freely with the light of Valinor. Normally they hid the light, it seemed to make men uncomfortable, but in the heat of the fight they unveiled themselves.

"C-commander Zhao!" the man shouted, backing up against the edge of the controls.

"Why," Maedhros said, advancing on the trembling man.

"I don't know!" he wailed. "The Prince's crew was interrogated for information regarding the Avatar. One of them must have mentioned you and Zhao sent us to take you out," he said quickly when he noticed Maedhros taking another step towards him.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Maedhros said. Fingon noticed him tensing and grabbed his arm.

"[We don't need to kill him]," he said in Quenya. "[There will be no harm in leaving him alive]."

Maedhros didn't relax. "[There is harm, he could still try to hurt us]," he argued.

Fingon turned Maedhros around so that they faced each other. The man was still in the corner of their eyes in case he decided to attack. "[This is not the first age, this man is terrified and will not attack us as we leave]," he said.

Maedhros sighed. "[I won't kill him]," he said. Maedhros turned to face the man. "We will not kill you at this time, should you try to hinder us we will not be so merciful," he warned. The man nodded quickly. Maedhros wiped the blood of his sword on the clothing of one of the fallen soldiers and strode out of the room.

Fingon watched the man for a second before turning and following Maedhros back to the swan boat. They jumped back on and sailed out of the firing range of the ship. As they watched, the engines started again and the ship turned back towards the harbor.

______________________

Zuko placed the deck of the Wani. He couldn't leave the harbor now, not with his Agni Kai, despite wanting to make sure Maedhros and Fingon had gotten away from the ship Zhao had sent after them.

The ship Zhao had sent came cruising in, Zuko turned and demanded a spy glass be brought to him. Perhaps Fingon and Maedhros had simply been taken prisoner. A crewman handed Zuko the wanted tool and he quickly looked at the deck of the approaching ship.

Nothing was moving on the deck. There were the dead bodies of soldiers and the deck was painted with red swaths of blood. Zuko swallowed bile down and brought the spyglass down. The ship docked and Zuko watched as Zhao walked over and boarded.

Zuko watched the ship for a couple more seconds before going below deck to where Uncle had been waiting for him. Uncle made him tea and told him to meditate until sunset. Zuko obeyed his request with little arguing and settled in his room watching the small flickering fire of the candle in front of him.

At sunset, Zuko met with Zhao on the Agni Kai arena. He was kneeling on the ground, a cape around his shoulders. The gold bands encircling his biceps were snug against his skin.

"Remember your basics, Prince Zuko," Uncle said, "They are your greatest weapons."

"I refuse to let him win," Zuko said. He stood up and turned to face Zhao. His cape fluttered down from his shoulders. Across the arena, Zhao did the same.

A gong rings over the arena and Zuko slips into a firebending stance. Within seconds the fight is on. Slowly, Zhao started to overpower Zuko's efforts.

"Basics, Zuko!" Uncle called. "Break his root!"

Zhao sends blast after blast at Zuko. The force of the last sends Zuko crashing back. He lifts his head and looks in horror as Zhao jumps above him. A flame wreathed hand poised for the final blow.

Zuko's eyes widen as he watched the fist flying towards his face. Another Agni Kai flashes through his mind and Zuko shoves it aside and grits it aside. He will not fail this time. At the last moment he rolled away from Zhao and kicked out his leg away from him.

Zuko stands up and stands firmly on the ground. Smiling faintly, he started driving Zhao back. He stepped forwards, fire sliding along his feet, forcing Zhao back and keeping him from finding his balance.

Finally, Zuko gets the Commander on the ground. Zuko raises his fist for the final blow and looks down at Zhao.

Zhao scowled from beneath him. "Do it!" he challenged. Zuko sends a powerful fire blast right next to Zhao's head before straightening and beginning to walk away. "That's it? Your father raised a coward!" Zhao called at him.

Zuko turned and glared him down. "Next time you get in my way, I promise, I won't hold back," he said. Zuko turned towards Uncle and walked away. From behind him came Zhao's angry yell and suddenly Uncle was holding the Commander's foot in his hand. Zuko turned angrily and tried to lunge for Zhao but Uncle held him back.

"No, Prince Zuko. Do not taint your victory," Iroh said. He turned and looked down at Zhao. "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat? Disgraceful. Even in exile my nephew is more honorable than you."

Zuko looked at Uncle. Did he really mean that? Could Zuko be more honorable than anyone at this point. "Thank you for the tea. It was delicious," Uncle said. As they walked Zuko looked at Uncle.

"Did you really mean that?" he asked softly.

Uncle grinned. "Of course, ginseng is my favorite," he said. Zuko smiled and continued walking to the Wani.

Once aboard he ordered his crew to get them out of the harbor before Zhao tried to stop him again. They slipped into the ocean and Zuko watched the harbor shrink. Turning towards the ocean he felt a wave of relief as the white sails of the swan boat came into sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quenya Translation: Until that time
> 
> If the person understands quenya the the pov will show that in brackets. Because Zuko doesnt understand this language I didn't put it in brackets.
> 
> Nelyo is short for Nelyafinwe, Maedhros' father name.


	3. The Warriors of Kyoshi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have guessed this chapter focuses on The Warriors of Kyoshi episode.
> 
> The Gaang makes an appearance!

The swan boat sailed next to the Wani and ropes secured it to the side. The ladder was thrown down and Maedhros and Fingon climbed up onto the deck.

"Do you know why a ship was sent after us?" Maedhros asked.

Uncle nodded. "Captain Zhao found out that you had helped us and sent the ship," Zuko replied, purposefully getting Zhao's title wrong. "He wanted to keep us in the harbor until he set off on his own attempt to capture the Avatar," Zuko spit out.

Fingon nodded, "I assume something happened to prevent him from that?" he asked.

Zuko grinned triumphantly. "I beat him in an Agni Kai," he said. He wasn't sure if Maedhros or Fingon actually knew what they meant but they seemed proud of him.

"Will he make an attempt to follow us?" Fingon asked, turning to Uncle.

"Perhaps, although he may stay away for a while until his pride recovers," Uncle replied. Fingon nodded and looked up at the sky. "It is getting late, we should all get some sleep and talk more in the morning," Uncle said.

Zuko didn't want to go to sleep now. He wanted to know how two men managed to fight off an entire ship of trained warriors. Zuko didn't get the chance to ask because they agreed with Uncle and walked back to their boat. Zuko walked into his room and collapsed on the futon, exhaustion seeping into his bones. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Zuko rises early the next morning and spends an hour meditating before heading towards the deck for firebending practice. Uncle was waiting for him and Maedhros and Fingon were on the deck with him.

"Zuko, run through your basics," Uncle said as he spotted the young prince. Zuko took a steadying breath and slipped into the first form. He practiced well into the morning, Uncle giving him pointers and gently correcting his stance.

By the time Zuko had finished he was tired and strangely pleased. Most of the time he practiced he ended up getting angrier because it rarely felt like he was improving. Today felt better, probably because he was still riding on the high from beating Zhao.

"When did men learn to wield fire?" Fingon asked. "Several of those we fought yesterday were able to create flames."

Zuko stared at Fingon. They didn't know what bending was. How did they not know what bending was. You would have to have been living under a rock in an abandoned island where no one ever came. "Firebending?" he asked.

Fingon nodded. "If that is what you call it, then yes," he said. "The last time we had visited the eastern world the only beings able to use fire in a way like that had been the balrogs and dragons."

Zuko had no idea what a balrog was. He did, however, know dragons. "We learned firebending from the dragons long ago," he offered. Everyone in the Fire Nation knew how the firebenders learned to use flames.

Fingon looked excited. "There's still dragons?" he asked. Zuko shook his head and Fingon visibly deflated. Behind him, Maedhros looked relieved.

"Did you ever see a dragon?" Zuko asked. If they didn't know about benders or the dragon hunts that happened there was a small chance that they had been able to see the original firebenders.

Fingon nodded. "I saw the first dragon," he said. "And several others that came after him."

"You saw the first dragon?" Zuko asked incredulously.

“I’m a lot older than I look,” Fingon said with a smile. "He wasn’t full grown yet, and it probably would have been better if we had managed to kill him before he got older,” he said.

“What did he do?” Zuko asked, curious. Uncle rarely told him stories about the dragon he had killed to get his title Dragon of the West.

Fingon shrugged. “Just the usual of what was going on at that time. Setting a lot of things on fire, killing a lot of people, destroying cities,” he said. “It was happening a lot at that time.” Zuko frowned at Fingon, how old was he? Of course, it would end up being more likely that Fingon was lying and just saying these things to mess with Zuko.

“That sounds fascinating,” Zuko said flatly. “Except there’s no way you could be that old,” he said.

Fingon shrugged. "I did say I was older than I looked," he said. Maedhros rolled his eyes from behind Fingon.

Zuko crossed his arms and suppressed a shiver. He was shirtless and the breeze seemed to be getting colder. Deciding to ignore Fingon until he stopped saying nonsense, Zuko turned to face Uncle. "Do you have any additional pointers?" he asked. It would be rude if Zuko left without the lesson being over. Uncle shook his head.

"Wait, I have a question," Maedhros said. Zuko turned to look at him and tried to keep his face straight. He really wanted to go take a shower as soon as possible. "Have you trained with a sword?" Maedhros asked.

That wasn't what Zuko was expecting. "I trained under Master Piandao when I was younger," he said.

Maedhros nodded. "Do you have a sword?" he asked. Zuko has a feeling that he may be getting a sword sparring session shortly.

"Twin dao blades," he said.

"Go get them."

Zuko walked to his room and took the blades from their place on the wall. He brought them back up the deck, stopping only for a quick drink of water. Maedhros was waiting for him, an elegantly crafted sword in his hand.. Zuko stands across from him. Maedhros studies the swords in his hands and nods. "Let's see how well trained you are," he said.

______________________

Fingon watched as Maedhros and Zuko started sparring. Zuko was better than he had expected, although Maedhros was still the better swordsman.

Iroh had gotten someone to bring up his tea set and pai sho board. They sat down together and started playing. The sound of steel clashing rang out across the deck. Iroh poured the tea and handed a cup to Fingon. Iroh made some of the best tea Fingon had tasted.

Iroh let Fingon play first and for a couple minutes he focused on the game. He heard Maedhros stop their sparring and start giving Zuko some pointers. Surprisingly, this was the calmest Fingon had ever heard Zuko react to anything. "Zuko doesn't seem as angry today," he commented.

Iroh nodded and looked over. "He has always enjoyed sword fighting more then bending," he said. Fingon nodded. Maedhros stepped back and Zuko attacked again.

"Does he practice often?" Fingon asked, moving one of his tiles.

"If he does, it is out of sight," Iroh said.

"Why?"

"His bending came in late. We almost thought he would be a nonbender, which may be why he was allowed to learn under Piandao," Iroh said. "When he made his first spark his father stopped him, a firebender should not have to use common weapons."

Fingon stares at Iroh. Who would stop someone from learning how to use weapons. What was he supposed to do when he wasn't able to use his bending? "Zuko is clearly clearly skilled with a blade, his father must be a fool to not see that," Fingon said.

Iroh scowled. "Ozai has not been as kind to his son as he should have," he said. That helps to explain why Zuko is alone on a ship with only his Uncle.

Although surely Ozai cared for his son. It was a strange thought for a father to not love his son. Even in their messed up family they still loved each other. "Is that why neither his mother nor his father are with him?"

"Lady Ursa disappeared years ago, and Ozai has banished him," Iroh said.

Effectively, Zuko had no family. Fingon needed to change this. It was clear Maedhros was somewhat fond of the boy, he was helping him, after all. It shouldn't take too long to convince him to adopt Zuko. Or he could just wait for when Maedhros tells him he wants to adopt Zuko and tell him that he thought of it first.

He focused on the game and focused on figuring out Iroh's strategy and how best to oppose it.

They were finally starting to reach the ending of the vane when Maedhros and Zuko finally stopped with their impromptu sword practice. Fingon watched as Zuko led him down below the deck to where Fingon assumed they would get cleaned up. He shrugged and took a sip of tea as Iroh made his move. It was looking like Fingon was going to lose this time.

______________________

Zuko was sure this was the first time Maedhros had ever seen a shower. He had shown him to the bathing room and had to tell Meadhros how it worked. After Maedhros knew how to work it he walked to his own shower. The water was colder than Zuko would have preferred it, but that was to be expected when they were travelling through the south pole.

He dried off his hair and put it back up in the phoenix tail before heading back up to the deck. Maedhros followed behind him. Fingon and Uncle had finished their game and where now just drinking tea together.

Fingon looked up at them. "Maedhros get over here I'm braiding your hair, you do a terrible job by yourself," he said.

Maedhros walked over. "I only have one hand, what did you expect?" he grumbled. He sat down in front of Fingon and took the cup out of his hand. Fingon frowned when he noticed that Maedhros' hair was still damp, but continued separating the strands.

"Why do you wear braids?" Zuko asked. Top nots would be easier to put hair into than braids.

"Depending on the braids you're wearing they tell others about you. It can show your status, name, how much time you spent actually doing it," Maedhros said. The braids still seemed to be a complete waste of time but at least they actually had a reason.

Speaking of braids, they were starting to form a pattern. "What do they say then?" Zuko asked.

"Maker of bad life decision, roughly," Fingon said. If you were using braids to state your social position what did any of what Fingon said have to do with it?

"It was one mistake that happened to lead to a bunch of other mistakes," Maedhros grumbled.

Zuko looked at them. "What did you do?" he asked.

"Swore an oath. Which you are not allowed to do under any circumstances, they just end up leading to everyone dying and it's not worth it," Maedhros said. His hair was almost done being braided. Fingon was just putting the last couple touches onto it.

Zuko watched them for a hit more before turning around. They obviously didn't understand what you were supposed to do with hair, and that you don't tell princes what they can and can't do unless you're the Fire Lord and they aren't. "I'm getting lunch," he called back before Uncle could ask.

They followed him down when the hair braiding was done. A couple of the crewmen looked at then but no one seemed anxious to start a conversation. Surrounded by the red colors of the Fire Nation it struck Zuko how much Fingon stood out in his blue clothing. When they reached the harbor Fingon should probably think about getting clothing that won't stand out as much. Maedhros' clothes were better, although still in the strange style Zuko had never seen.

Lunch was kind of bland. Although they were probably starting to run low on spices, that may be the reason behind the flavor of the food. Or it was always bland and Zuko hadn't noticed before. It was hard to tell. He ate quickly and then retreated back to his room. The Avatar had been flying vaguely Northish when he had flown away.

Perhaps he had passed by the harbor at some point. Maybe someone there would know. Zuko's days passed much the same. He would have firebending training with Uncle, then he would practice swords with Maedhros and sometimes get random lessons from Fingon that felt suspiciously like parenting. With less yelling and fire shooting and silent disapproval. By the time they came to the harbor it looked like Maedhros was making a conscious effort not to join Fingon in the weird parental lessons.

Zuko didn't leave the Wani. He would leave later, and ask around to see if anyone had heard of the Avatar nearby. Uncle took Fingon and Maedhros out to find new clothing.

______________________

When Uncle came back, There was no news on the Avatar and Fingon and Maedhros hadn't bought anything. Wasn't that the main reason they had even gone ashore? At least they had stocked up on provisions so the food will be better.

He spent the rest of the day storming around the Wani and yelling at people. The only good thing that happened that day was when the cook, of all people, discovered that the Avatar was an Kyoshi island.

Zuko stormed up to the deck, a plate of fish in his hand. He yelled at Lieutenant Jee to set a course to Kyoshi Island and they slipped away from the harbor.

"What's on Kyoshi?" Fingon asked, he had overheard him yelling at Jee.

"The Avatar," Zuko snapped back. He set the plate down on Uncle's tea table and looked across the ocean. He would need to be more careful when capturing the Avatar this time.

Maedhros looked over at him. "Do you have a plan when we get there?" he asked.

So far his plan consisted of storming on the komodo rhinos and forcing the Avatar to come with him or he would...set things on fire? Zuko might not actually have a plan but if it seemed like he did then no one would bother him about it. "Fingon and I can scout ahead to ensure that the Avatar is still on the island before you get there," Maedhros said. "So that we don't travel to an unnecessary destination and end up making more people angry then we needed to."

"That was my plan," Zuko said. It wasn't but it was a good plan.

Fingon clears his throat. "First, we have no way to contact you and do not know the current writing system. Second, are you sure heading to a village with the intent to find a valuable object and take it is the best course of action?"

"I need to find the Avatar and bring him to my father!" Zuko answered. It was the only way he was ever going to come home. If he waited someone else might get him first and then Zuko would never come home.

Fingon and Maedhros nodded. "How are you going to convince him to go with you?"

Why did they need to ask so many questions? It was almost like when Uncle asked if he actually had a plan. He rarely had a well thought out plan but he and a plan. Things just never seemed to go the way he wanted. "I'll capture him and keep him in the prison hold until we return to the Fire Nation," Zuko said.

"Ask first, then do the capturing. No one can be angry if you ask first," Maedhros said.

Zuko sighed. “Fine, take a Messenger Hawk with you and once you find the Avatar tell me immieidnalty,” he said, turning and leaving. They knew what he wanted so he wouldn’t need to say anything else. He grabbed the plate of fish and retreated to his room.

______________________

Perhaps because it was a person and not a gem they were asking for this would go better than the last few times someone had had a silmaril. Maedhros hoped it would. Fingon was talking with Iroh while holding a red hawk. Maedhros stepped down to their boat.

Fingon finished talking and returned, still holding the bird. He carried the bird under the deck, coming back up once he had found a home for it. They separated from Zuko’s ship and tightened their sails. Speeding up in the water and heading towards Kyoshi island.

“What do you think the island will look like?” Fingon asked. At their new pace, one much faster than they were originally going. They should reach the island in a couple hours.

“Probably has plants,” Maedhros answered.

Fingon looked over at him. “You’re worried about something,” he said.

“I don’t want Zuko to have to face anything like what happened during the search for the silmarils,” Maedhros said. “It’s starting to look like it is.”

Fingon sat down next to him. “He doesn’t have a doom laid on him, this isn’t going to end like your quest,” he said.

Maedhros sighed and looked across the ocean. A blue landmass was slowly approaching them. It must be Kyoshi. “It looks like we’re here,” he said, standing up. He could feel Fingon’s disappointed stare. He said that he would need to talk about this if he wanted to find healing, except Mandos himself basically kicked him out of the halls because he wasn’t healing. The world obviously didn’t think that Maedhros deserved healing.

They sailed closer, the island coming into focus. There was something in the waters of the bay, although it appeared to be the easiest way to the village. Maedhros and Fingon sailed through quickly and beached their ship. They stepped off the ship and dragged it further onto the beach before looking around.

Snow covered the ground, further inland they could see smoke from a fire. “The village must be that way,” Fingon said, pointing to the smoke.

Maedhros nodded. “Then that’s where we’re heading,” he said. There was the soft crunch of snow from deeper into the forest. Someone was watching them. Knowing that humans weren’t as good at picking up sounds, Fingon and Maedhros pretended to not have heard. They also pretended to be surprised when they were jumped by five girls wearing green dresses.

Reluctantly, Maedhros allowed them to cover his eyes with a blindfold and tie ropes around his wrist. He would be able to break them if needed. It was still severely uncomfortable and reminded him of several unpleasant memories. They were marched away from the beach towards the sound of voices and to what Maedhros believed was the village.

“The statue is still being painted, right?” one of the girls said.

“Yeah, we could just bring them to the dojo,” another girl said.

They were brought into the dojo, tied to a post, and the blindfolds were finally taken off. Maedhros blinked up at the girls. Their faces were painted white, with red around the eyes. “Who are you?” the leader asked. She had a different headband than the others.

“My name’s Fingon and this is Maedhros,” Fingon said cheerfully. Maedhros closed his eyes.

The leader looked at them with a slight frown. “Where are you from and what are you doing here?” she asked.

“Valinor, and we need to restock on supplies,” Fingon said. “We’re travelling to the Earth Kingdom hoping to find refuge from the war.” Well, that was convincing. Apart from saying they were from Valinor, no one seemed to remember that.

The girl didn’t know where Valinor was, obvious by her reaction to the name. Although it looked like she believed the refugee story. “Go get the Avatar,” she said, turning to one of the girls. “He’ll decide whether we’re going to keep them alive or feed them to the Unagi. For all we know he knows them.” Being fed to whatever this Unagi was did not sound pleasant, luckily they knew the Avatar was here. Now all that was left was to send the message to Zuko.

They waited in a tense silence. Finally the girl came back with a blue clothed girl and a bald...kid. The Avatar was a child. They were going to be judged by a literal child. “Hi! I’m Aang!”

______________________

There were two men tied to a post in the dojo. One of them was wearing Fire Nation colors, Katara didn’t know why Aang needed to see them. They had to be spies. “I’m Fingon,” said the one wearing blue. “The grumpy one is Maedhros.”

Maedhros rolled his eyes. “They claim to be refugees fleeing to the Earth Kingdom. Oyaji is busy overseeing some repairs and we figured that you being the Avatar would mean that you will be able to judge whether to throw them to the Unagi or keep them alive,” Suki explained.

Aang was obviously going to let them live. “Of course they can stay alive! They’re fleeing the Fire Nation, there’s no way they could actually be Fire Nation,” Aang said cheerfully. Katara frowned but she wouldn’t have a say in this. She wasn’t the Avatar, after all.

Maedhros and Fingon were untied. They were tall. They also had a weird sort of aura around them. It felt almost inhuman, like they were spirits. Maedhros was missing a hand and had some pretty impressive scarring across his face. Both of their eyes were grey, which meant that if they were Fire Nation then they had to have been hired. Every soldier Katara had ever seen had goldish eyes.

Aang perked up. “Do you want to see something cool?” he asked, before showing them the marble trick. Maedhros and Fingon actually looked slightly impressed.

“That’s airbending, right?” Fingon asked.

Aang smiled brightly. “I can do other things with it, I’ll show you!” he said. Aang grabbed their arms and dragged them out of the dojo. Katara followed behind, still suspicious. She knew that she was acting kind of like Sokka. But if she could convince Aang that these people were with the Fire Nation they might finally be able to leave the stupid island.

Aang showed them his airbending. A small crowd gathered, mostly little girls, although a couple of the older members of the village watched him. Katara had to admit, Aang was a skilled bender. Although using his abilities to show off was not helping anything. The constant praise from the little girls weren’t helping him, either.

Eventually, Fingon politely told Aang that they needed to do other things and left him. The crowd of girls surrounded Aang and dragged him off. Sokka was with the Kyoshi warriors, training, which left Katara to watch Maedhros and Fingon. They wandered around the market, not asking any questions. Maedhros got some stares due to him wearing Fire Nation colors. Not to mention the strange style of their clothing. It wasn’t anything close to what Katara had seen. Perhaps it was what people wore further in the Earth Kingdom?

They also didn’t have any coins with them. Instead they just pulled out jewels and offered them to pay for the food they were buying. They had to be rich, which didn’t make sense for why they were refugees. Couldn’t they just pay the Fire Nation not to attack them. It wouldn’t surprise Katara if the FIre Nation could be bribed by money.

“Are you going to continue watching us, or actually come up and talk?” Maedhros asked. They were carrying the food in a basket and walking towards the beach. There was no point in pretending that she hadn’t been watching them.

“Where are you going?" Katara asked.

“To our boat, we need to get these supplies down there,” Fingon replied, turning to face Katara. ‘You can come with us if you want,” he offered.

Katara walked a bit faster to meet up with them. If they were Fire Nation, why would they be willing to show her the boat? It would have to have something from the FIre Nation on it. Unless they actually weren’t. “Are your names really Fingon and Maedhros?” she asked.

“Technically I’m called Findekáno and Maedhros’ name is Nelyafinwe, except Fingon and Maedhros are easier to say,” Fingon said smoothly.

They seemed too kind to be Fire Nation. Katara was probably just overreacting. They walked towards the forest before reaching a white boat carved to look like a swan. It was one of the most beautiful things Katara had ever seen. She ran her hand along the wooden sides as Fingon and Maedhros set the supplies on the dock. “This is amazing,” she breathed.

Fingon smiled. “It was made by the Teleri, master shipbuilders,” he said.

"Stuck up shipbuilders," Maedhros grumbled. Fingon just nodded in agreement and moved to help Maedhros with the supplies.

"What's so bad about them, they've made such a beautiful ship?" Katara asked. To be able to create such amazing things would be awesome.

Maedhros scowled. "They refused to offer their assistance when asked. It led to...an overreaction." Fingon grimaced, she would've assumed the Fire Nation had something to do with it, although it sounded more like it was Maedhros.

"Oh," Katara said. "It looks like it worked out though," she said awkwardly, gesturing to the ship. Maedhros started shaking, it took a moment before Katara realized he was laughing. Fingon looked just as surprised as she was.

The sun was lowering in the horizon. Katara sighed. "I need to head back to the village," she said.

Fingon smiled at her. "I hope we get to meet again soon," he said. Katara smiled back and walked through the forest back to the village. She glanced back once and saw a bird fly up from the direction of the boat before heading out to sea.

______________________

It turned out Maedhros and Fingon actually did end up being Fire Nation spies. The next morning Zuko cam riding up in with his stupid pony tail and Maedhros and Fingon walked next to them. They looked much more intimidating than Zuko. The being taller than everyone probably helped.

"If the Avatar will surrender to us we will leave this village intact and the inhabitants unharmed," Zuko said. "If the Avatar is to leave or be otherwise taken we will be forced to dire measures."

Aang looked terrified. Katara didn't want to imagine what Zuko would do if Aang escaped from him again. They would have to get out now. Katara didn't want to leave these people here without helping but it could be worse. "Aang you can't go with them," Sokka said. Katara had mistaken him for one of the warriors as he was wearing a dress and face paint.

"But what if they hurt someone," Aang responded.

"If you get captured then there will be no hope to ending this war. Zuko is probably going to do worse if you escape after agreeing than if you just leave how," Sokka said.

Aang still looked upset, but he nodded. He looked over at Suki to make sure it was okay with her if he put the village in danger. Suki bit her lip but nodded her agreement. He tightened the grip on his staff and stared down Zuko. "I will not be going with you. The world needs me," he said firmly.

Zuko scowled at Aang. Maedhros looked resigned and Fingon looked almost sad. The Kyoshi warriors charged at the same time Zuko shot a fireball at them. Aang knocked it aside and Katara tried to bend some water from a nearby pot. She wasn't good enough to be useful in this fight and instead focused on getting the villagers away from the flames.

When she had led them away Katara turned back to the fight. Maedhros and Fingon were terrifying. The Kyoshi warriors were no match for them. Zuko was facing Aang by himself and Sokka was making a general distraction to everyone.

Maedhros and Fingon seemed almost inhuman. Their eyes flashed with fire and they moved with a grace and elegance Katara had never seen before. They almost seemed like spirits. She decided to wonder about what Fingon and Maedhros were later and focused on the main problem at the moment.

She managed to bend some water and pulled the same trick she had with the Fire Nation soldiers back at the South pole. Because of the sudden ice the warriors managed to drive Maedhros and Fingon back a bit.

Sokka stumbled over to her. He was bleeding from various cuts but none of them seemed to be too serious. "We need to get Appa and Aang and leave," he said. Together they rushed towards Appa and clambered on. Appa lumbered over to Aang.

"Aang!" Katara yelled. Aang looked over at them and pushed Zuko away before jumping onto the sky bison.

"Yip yip!" he yelled. Appa's tail slammed into the ground and he pushed himself into the air. Zuko shot fire at them but missed. Katara watched as the Fire Nation withdrew from the island.

She couldn't believe she had trusted Fingon and Maedhros. They had seemed so nice. She vowed to herself to never make that mistake again. They flew off into the sky, heading north and towards a waterbending master. Katara was going to need all the training she she could get if they were ever going to face Maedhros and Fingon again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katara seemed pretty ooc to me but I think I got her fixed up by the end. This isn't my favorite chapter and when I find time I might actually rewrite it.


	4. A Stroll Through the Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo a new chapter! I got asked this and I dont really have a schedule for updating because my writing fluctuates a lot but I will be working to get a chapter a week.

The Avatar had gotten away from Zuko again! He had even tried to do what Maedhros had said and it didn't work. Maybe he needed to be more threatening. The Avatar clearly didn't take him seriously. Angrily, Zuko threw a fire ball out across the open sea. In the distance, he could see the Avatar's bison flying away. "Why didn't that work?" he cried out.

"What I told you only gives an excuse for people not to get upset at you. It also builds a reputation but does not always consist in the handing over of what you want," Maedhros explained.

Zuko growled. "Then why did I have to do it?" he yelled.

"To keep people from getting too upset," he said.

It seemed like the girls on Kyoshi were plenty upset at them, though Zuko didn't mention that. He stroked away from Maedhros and yelled at anyone who came into his line of sight. It wasn't that satisfying but it was something to pass the time with.

The Avatar flew further into the Earth Kingdom, towards Omashu, Uncle had said. They wouldn't be able to do anything until he left Omashu. Instead, they prowled along the edges listening to news of the Avatar.

It takes longer than Zuko would have liked but they finally find news that the Avatar had recently liberated an earthbender prison raft. Zuko turned the  _ Wani _ straight for it. Perhaps something there would be useful.

When they reach the prison Zuko marches straight on and searches through the littered remains of coal spread across the main courtyard. He found the Water Tribe peasant's necklace. It might end up being useful later. The warden seemed terrified of the fact that Maedhros and Fingon were there and Zuko used that to his full advantage. The news of what happened at Zhao's harbor must have spread. "What direction did they go?" Zuko asked.

The warden pointed east. "They went that way," he said, sending a nervous glance at Maedhros.

Uncle looked out east. "Hei Bai forest lays that way. I've heard you can find some pleasant pools," he said.

"Uncle," Zuko groaned. It didn't matter how amazing the pools were he needed to capture Avatar.

"It's true. They can be most relaxing when heated," Uncle continued on. Zuko sighed and turned back to the ship. Once Uncle, Fingon, and Maedhros were back on they sailed away, heading for the shore. And the forest.

"Would someone please explain the war that seems to have taken over the world?" Fingon asked as the prison rig faded into the distance.

Right, Fingon and Maedhros didn’t know anything about the war. Well, they might know a bit, but seeing as they had never heard of bending it was safe to assume they hadn’t heard of the war. “The Fire Nation is bringing glory to the world,” Zuko said. That’s what they had been taught. The only reason there was fighting was because everyone was refusing to join with the Fire Nation. "The Avatar is trying to stop us from helping people. I need to capture him so that the world will surrender and we can finally start healing." Zuko knew that people were getting hurt, it was war after all. Once he captured the Avatar the Earth Kingdom would surrender and then the fighting would stop. He would also be restored to his position, which wouldn't hurt anyone.

Maedhros and Fingon nodded. "So why are people fighting?" Fingon asked. "If the Fire Nation is just trying to help them."

"Because they are too blind to see what uniting under the Fire Lord has to offer," Zuko said. Fingon frowned slightly at the mention of Fire Lord, but didn't ask anything else.

Maedhros hummed thoughtfully. "You can't force people to side with you," he said.

Zuko huffed, he knew that but they needed to show the Earth Kingdom its place. Fire was the superior element which meant that they had the ability to rule over the rest of the world.

"Tonight is music night, will you be joining us, Zuko?" Uncle asked. Zuko resisted the urge to make a face. Music night had started getting better since Maedhros and Fingon had joined but it still wasn't any fun.

"Fine, but I'm not playing," he said. Uncle smiled but didn't try to convince Zuko to play.

Until it came time for music night. Uncle dumped the tsungi horn on Zuko's lap despite his protesting and smiled at him. In the beginning the so-called music was complete chaos. It sounded like no one had ever heard of time tables or actual notes and scales.

The chaos continued and it looked like Maedhros and Fingon were making a conscious effort not to take the instruments from anyone. After two hours of horrid noise Fingon finally broke and asked for the sounds to stop. He was smiling as he picked up his harp.

Zuko still didn't understand the words that Fingon was singing. Either way, it was amazing to listen to. Maedhros didn't join in like he did the last song, seeming content to listen. The song wandered through green forests and along forgotten paths. It wound it's way to darker and darker places. Fingon's voice faltered slightly when he was singing something that brought to mind an unconquerable darkness split only by three bright stars. The song dips darker yet before returning to a cheerful ending.

"It is late," Fingon said, looking up at the starry sky. "Tomorrow we will reach the forest."

Uncle nodded in agreement and everyone started cleaning up the instruments. Maedhros and Fingon were talking quietly by the rope ladder leading down to their boat. Zuko wandered a little closer, wanting to know what they were talking about.

"I do not need you to worry about me everytime you mention him," Maedhros whispered.

"I worry either way, Nelyo. The Enemy held you long and you still have yet to fully heal," Fingon said gently.

Maedhros sighed and murmured something Zuko couldn't catch. "No, you do not deserve this," Fingon hissed at Maedhros. "You've suffered enough already."

Zuko couldn't catch the rest of the conversation. They moved down the ladder to their boat and Zuko was left to wonder. He didn't know who this enemy was, or what it had to dow this the song. Perhaps the song had actually mentioned him? Without knowing the language, Zuko would never know. If he asked Fingon he would have to admit he had eavesdropped on him and from past experiences people were not happy when you bring things up you weren't supposed to hear.

Zuko'a dreams were strange that night. He wandered through a forest he had never seen before, he watched as the forest changed to a cold hard throne room. His father grinning down at him and flames were everywhere. Above his father's head three stars danced. One of the stars was snuffed out and Zuko felt his face burn as the flames rose higher. He gasped awake, a hand cupped to his scar. It has been a while since the scar had bothered Zuko. Since Fingon and Maedhros had joined them his nightmares had seemed to dissipate. It looked like that trend was coming to an end. The sun hadn't yet risen and with a sigh Zuko layed down again.

______________________

  
  


Once they finally reached the forest the first thing Uncle did was disappear into the trees, probably looking for those pools. Fingon walked straight up to the nearest tree and stared at it. Tracking the Avatar was getting off to a great start already.

Zuko huffed and looked up at the sky, trying to figure out where the Avatar had gone now. Maedhros walked up to him and joined the sky searching. The sky told Zuko nothing about where the Avatar had gone. It looked like he would either need to leave and search for news of the Avatar somewhere else or pick a random direction and start walking.

Fingon walked up to them. "The Avatar is deeper in the forest, there's a village by a huge swath of burned trees," he said. Right, Hei Bai forest had a huge chunk of it burned out. Zuko couldn't remember the reason why they had done it, bu tit made sense the Avatar would stop there. Seeing as he was supposed to bring balance and seemed to care about people a lot.

"How did you figure that out?" Zuko asked. All Fingon had done was stare at a tree.

Turns out Fingon had found that out from a tree. "They're much more dormant than I remember," he said before his face adopted the same look he had when he was talking about dragons. "When I was younger trees would walk."

Zuko sighed angrily. They were trying to find Uncle before heading off for the Avatar. "Trees don't walk," he grit out.

Fingon grinned at him. "You're right," he said, "It was the ents that walked."

"What in Agni's name is an  _ ent _ ?" Zuko asked.

"A walking tree."

Zuko yelled in frustration. Fingon hadn't seen the first dragon and trees don't walk. It didn't matter how, otherworldly they sometimes asked. Fingon was not old enough to see that. Finally, Zuko spotted clothes hanging in a tree. Uncle was sitting in a hot spring, oblivious to the utter nonsense Fingon was saying.

"Uncle, we need to leave. We've found the Avatar's trail and I don't want to lose it," he said.

Uncle looked over at him. "You look tired, Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles?"

Fingon looked tempted to say yes, from the way he was eyeing the water. "My troubles can't be washed away. It's time to go!" Zuko said, annoyed. Sitting in a pool of warm water would do nothing to capture the Avatar and unbanish him.

"You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little. The temperature's just right. I heated it myself," Uncle said. Fingon was looking more excited at the chance to sit in warm water.

"The Avatar probably won't be leaving any time soon," Fingon said hopefully.

Zuko glared at Fingon and Uncle. "No, we need to leave now. Get out of the water!" he said angrily.

"Very well," Uncle said. Zuko coughed and covered his eyes. There were some things he never wanted to see in his life and Uncle naked was one of them.

"On second thought," he said, still covering his eyes. "Why don't you wait a few minutes. Be back at the ship in half an hour or we're leaving without you!" That should give Uncle time to enjoy his stupid spring and Zuko sole time not make sure they had what they would need to go after the Avatar again.

Back at the ship, he hesitated at the decision of bringing his swords. It could prove useful, after all, no one expected a bender to be able to use weapons. Although it might be useful to wait before revealing that fact until he needed it.

Maedhros knocked on the open door to his room before walking in. He nodded to the swords. "Are you bringing them?" he asked.

Zuko stared at the swords like they would tell him what the right choice was. Father always said that it was dishonorable for a bender to use nonbender weapons. "No, I'm not bringing them," he decided. Zuko would catch the Avatar using his bending.

Maedhros nodded. "It's almost been half an hour," he informed Zuko. If Uncle ever did anything that Zuko told him too he would show up now.

"Give him another half hour, Uncle never does anything I tell him to," Zuko grumbled. A smile flitted across Maedhros' face as he exited the room. Zuko pulled out his candles and lit then before settling on the ground. He would need a clear mind when he faces the Avatar again.

______________________

  
  


Uncle was late. Sure he never came when Zuko told him to, but he never stayed away for longer than an hour. Zuko left his room and dragged Maedhros and Fingon with him towards the hot springs. They were the only ones who would actually be useful if it came to a fight. They had gotten into their armor, elegantly crafted and a wonder to look at.

When they reached the sight of the hot springs it was clear why Uncle had not returned. "Earthbenders," Zuko muttered darkly, looking at the unnatural position of the rocks. "We need to find Uncle before he gets taken too far from us," he said, "earthbenders are not as kind with their prisoners."

Maedhros knelt down and touched the ground before scanning the trees. "They went that way," he said, pointing down a narrow path.

They let Zuko set the pace. He followed along the path. It was getting later and still there was no sign of Uncle. "What will the earthbenders do to your uncle if we do not find him in time?" Maedhros asked as they walked.

"We've heard that they crush the hands of firebenders," Zuko said. "Then they'll send the soldiers out to the front lines in enemy uniforms. If you're important enough they keep you alive, or so I've heard." The earthbenders were cruel and too powerful to let stay in occupied towns and villages. That's why they had built the prison rig. Not only did it help to keep more benders form joining the war, but it helped build ships and other supplies.

Fingon looked upset. "What does the Fire Nation do to prisoners?" he asked.

"Send them to prisons," Zuko answered. "We're not savages." He would be more upset for Fingon having asked that question. But they didn't know anything about the war. Besides, if he had heard that was what someone did to people he would want to know what the other side would do to them.

They continued walking, the sun was starting to set and the forest was now a rosy color. Finally, Zuko found a sign of his Uncle. One of his sandals had fallen on the road they were bow using. Zuko bent down and picked it up. "We're on the right path," he said as he looked up. A flash of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Turning, Zuko spotted the Avatar's bison flying through the air.

Maedhros and Fingon followed his gaze. "I'll go after the Avatar and make sure he doesn't leave the forest," Maedhros said, "Find your uncle and get him out of here. If he is taken into an outpost Fingon is a master at rescuing prisoners."

Zuko wanted to go after the Avatar himself but his Uncle's safety was more important. He nodded and Maedhros ran into the trees. Fingon watched him leave with a slightly worried expression but didn't say anything to stop him. Uncle had to be close by, Zuko thought as they continued down the road.

______________________

  
  


Sokka grumbled to himself as he shoved bamboo stalks out of the way. For once, he was actually regretting not listening to an adult. Now he was stuck in a weird spirit swamp with no one else around.

Or at least, there was no one around. Sokka finally found a relatively large and dry clearing amidst the plants. It was there that the spirit had appeared. One moment, Sokka was standing there alone, and the next, a man appeared.

The figure looked like a man at first glance. When Sokka actually looked it became apparent that this was no human. The figure glowed brightly as though he was a flame and seemed to have ragged edges. It's eyes shone with a brilliant light almost like the sun itself.

For a moment, Sokka just stared in open mouthed shock. What was he supposed to do when faced with a literal spirit. Attack it was out of the question, that was how he had ended up in the spirit swamp in the first place. Sokka kept staring before realizing the spirit was missing his right hand and the gaze was really familiar.

It clicked. "You!" Sokka shouted, pointing. This was this man who had attacked Kyoshi island!

"Me," the man? Spirit? said. He studied Sokka. "Do I know you?" he asked.

Sokka spluttered the man attacked him, who does he not recognize Sokka? "Does Kyoshi ring a bell?" he said.

"Oh, you were one of the warriors," the man realized. "Sorry for that. I did do my best not to kill anyone."

Sokka crossed his arms. "You betrayed my sister," he said. Katara had told them all about the two guys she had met. Who later turned out to be with the jerkbender.

"Oh, the blue girl," the man said. "We probably would have won if she wasn't there. And if Fingon had told me not to kill anyone."

Sokka didn't know how to react to that. All Katara had done was freeze some water in their general direction. How did that change anything. It didn't even seem to stop the men. Unless, the blue one seemed to freeze up at the sight of ice. He would need to remember that.

"Do you know where we are?" Not Fingon asked. "There is something strange in the air."

Is the man seriously not going to acknowledge that he is the enemy here. If there was anyone else around Sokka would have left. As it was, this might be the best chance he had to getting out of here. He could pretend to be on the man's side and then surprise attack him when they got out of here. "If you tell me your name I'll tell you where we are," Sokka said.

"Maedhros Fëanorion," Maedhros said. Sokka wasn't actually expecting him to answer. He also didn't know any spirits by that name,maybe this was something else.

Sokka clumsily bowed. "Welcome to the spirit world," he said.

Maedhros stared at him. "What's that?" he asked.

"You know, the place people go when they die apparently? Where all the spirits live?" Sokka said. Did this guy seriously not know where they were. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to be hoping this guy would be able to help him get out.

Maedhros' face paled. "That's, not good," he said.

"Tell me about it," Sokka said. "I've been trying to find a way out but it hasn't been working."

Maedhros cleared his throat. His fiery form dimmed slightly, before returning back to its normal brightness. "We need to get walking then. Better hope an exit appears soon."

"That's what I've been doing!" Sokka said.

______________________

  
  


The sun had set by the time they found Iroh. There was a small outpost manned by soldiers wearing some of the most ridiculous hats Fingon had ever seen. It was like someone had placed a large plate on their heads.

Zuko looked ready to charge straight towards the outpost. "How good are you at sneaking into places?" Fingon asked him.

"Pretty good," Zuko said.

"We'll sneak in, find Iroh, and then leave. The point is to stay hidden for as long as possible," Fingon said. Zuko nodded and clenched his fists. Together they stood up and crept closer.

Zuko was doing better than Fingon had been expecting. He did not have the light steps of an elf, but it appeared he didn't need it. There were much fewer soldiers on watch then Fingon expected. It would work to their advantage, so he wasn’t going to be that upset by the lack of security. Fingon stopped by them, hoping to catch some snippets of conversation that might prove to be useful.

“Do you think we’ll get a promotion for being part of the group that captured the Dragon of the West?” one of the soldiers was saying.

The other one shrugged. “I hope so but they’ll probably just take all the credit.”

Fingon and Zuko slipped past them as they started complaining about their commanding officers. Fingon rolled his eyes as they scaled the building walls. No one noticed them, it was a little disappointing.

Within the walls was chaos. Nearly everyone was celebrating Iroh's capture, although it didn't sound like anything horrible had happened to him. Zuko and Fingon flitted through the rafters, they would need to be a prison hold of some sort around here. Or an office that held that information. They paused for a moment outside of the mess hall. "Do you know where your uncle is being held?" Fingon whispered to Zuko.

Zuko frowned and looked down the hallway. "No, though I know how we can find out," he said, turning back towards the hall. They waited in the shadows of the halls before a group came staggering out and someone dropped behind. Fingon clamped his hand around the man's mouth and Zuko opened a door to a room for them to enter.

It turns out the room was an office of some sort. And someone was sitting at the desk in open mouthed shock. The brush he was holding dropped from his hands and splattered ink all over the paper he was writing. Fingon reacted quickly and pulled out a knife holding it to his hostage's throat. "Yell for help and he dies," he said coolly.

Zuko shot a slightly surprised look at Fingon, but focused his attention on the man. "Where are you keeping my uncle," Zuko demanded.

"Who?" the man said. He was obviously nervous but was hiding it pretty well.

Zuko growled and the candles flames reached higher. "General Iroh, I know he's here," Zuko said.

The man swallowed nervously. "H-he's not here," he said. Lied was a more accurate description. Fingon sighed to himself and pressed the dagger closer to his hostage's skin, a thin trickle of blood dripped along the blade.

"I suggest you tell the truth," Fingon advised. "It will save time for both of us and end in less bloodshed." Zuko wasn't going to leave without Iroh, and Fingon wasn't going to leave either of them here.

The man hesitated. "He's in the lower levels. In the only occupied cell we have," he said. Fingon nodded and removed the blade, knocking his hostage out. Regrettably, Fingon couldn't knock out the other before he called for help. They were going to have to move fast.

Zuko understood and with a shared glance they tore out of the room heading for the stairs they had seen. Fingon pulled his sword out of his sheath as they ran. He had no doubt at least someone would try to attack them.

They managed to get to the cells without running to any trouble. There was only one guard sitting at the door to one of the cells. He looked up as they entered before standing into what must be a bending form. Sure enough, a rock was lifted from the ground and hurled at them. Zuko destroyed it with a blast of fire and Fingon danced around the untrustworthy earth towards the door.

Fingon swiped the bender's feet from beneath him and held him on the ground by sword point. "The keys, please," he said.

Zuko just kicked open the door. It was dramatic and perfect for being a part of this family. He felt a small amount of pride for his adopted son and knocked the bender out with the hilt of his sword. Zuko was helping Iroh stand, who needed some clothes. Iroh was dressed in only a loincloth, but Fingon was seeing much more of the man than he would have liked.

Seeing as Zuko was handling that, he turned and looked around him for some clothes. They had taken Iroh's when they captured him, so it must be around here somewhere. Sure enough, after a bit of wandering, Fingon found Iroh's clothes in a small closet. He carried out back and handed the clothes to Iroh. They had managed to get the manacles off and had moved the unconscious bender into the now empty cell.

Iroh quickly got dressed and they staftes up the stairs. The rest of the outpost had taken the opportunity to surround the staircase. As soon as they came into view waiting soldiers began their attack. Iroh and Zuko took on the earthbenders, leaving Fingon free for those with actual weapons. Fingon was doing his best to use only nonlethal moves, but there was just enough people that he wouldn't be able to move fast enough.

The battle ended much faster as soon as Fingon started taking the lives of soldiers. When it was over, everyone either having retreated, died, or been knocked out, they quickly left the outpost and headed back into the forest. It was nearing midnight now and Fingon could see Zuko's attempts at hiding his yawns. They walked until Iroh decided they were far enough from the outpost. He did stop Zuko from lighting a fire.

Fingon offered to take watch, he didn't need any sleep tonight, and was waiting for news from Maedhros. Zuko fell asleep within minutes. Fingon knew Iroh was still awake, but neither offered any conversation. 

He looked into the forest and hoped Maedhros would return soon. There was still danger in Middle Earth, obviously, even if it wasn't the same dark cloud from Angband. He listened to the trees instead of dwelling on thoughts of the First Age. They were much more quiet than Fingon remembered. He had to wake them up a bit and now there was the soft chatter of trees talking of things they remembered.

Fingon looked back at the sleeping figure of Zuko. He wasn't completely certain if Iroh was actually asleep or not. He watched them for a bit before turning back to the forest.  _ Have you seen a flame haired elf?  _ he asked the forest.

The trees hummed as they asked the question throughout the forest. Thankfully they were thankfully faster than traditional entish. Fingon felt a little sad at the absence of the gentle tree shepherds, but he didn't miss taking hours to ask a question.

_He ran to the village,_ the trees finally answered. _The flame haired elf disappeared_ _along with the others_.

Fingon tensed up, where did Maedhros go? He shouldn't have left the forest. It didn't even seem like the Avatar had left the forest. Either the Avatar had overpowered Maedhros and captured him, or something else was in the forest.

Fingon's mind flipped through worst case scenarios: Sauron was still here, he got ambushed by orcs, something killed him, the oath woke up again, Morgoth was back. Fingon came back to the present when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

He turned to look at Iroh. "You were panicking, I would offer to make tea, but…" he said apologetically.

Fingon nodded his thanks. "I would not say no to tea when we return to safer grounds," he said.

Iroh nodded and moved so he was sitting next to Fingon. They sat in companionable silence for a while before Fingon spoke. "I fear there is something in this forest," he said. He could see Iroh looking at him from the corner of his eye, but Fingon did not look away from the dark trees. "They say that Maedhros has disappeared with the others," he said.

"We will have to get him back then," Iroh said after a moment's hesitation. "Do we have a place to start looking?" he asked.

Fingon nodded. "When Zuko wakes up we're headed for the village," he said. If the villagers had a hand in Maedhros' disappearance Fingon was going to take a page from the Fëanorion book and commit a village wide murder. Iroh nodded and returned to where he had been sleeping.

"If you need me you can just wake me up," he said gently. This time Iroh actually went to bed. Fingon spent the rest of the night keeping his mind from wandering down dark paths of what might have happened. Perhaps the trees simply didn't know what happened in the village and thought he had disappeared, he thought hopefully. Surely there wasn't an actual reason to be worried. Fingon didn't think there was anything left in Middle Earth that would be able to take on Maedhros without causing a large scene that everyone knew what had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick question: would you guys like to see Elros in the spirit world because I'm really thinking I might chuck him at Maedhros while he's there.


	5. The Spirit World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild Elros has appeared.
> 
> Happy fourth of July!! I went firework shopping today and I am so excited for watching them.
> 
> Edit: I noticed a mistake that was really annoying me, so I fixed it. (Sokka said meat juice, for anyone interested)

Maedhros used his sword to cut the bamboo stalks in front of him. Everything felt slightly off, as though the world around him was unsure of his presence. He desperately hoped that nothing overly terrible would happen before he managed to return.

"Then I decided to try to get the fishhook out with another fishhook and I got both of them stuck in my thumb!" Sokka, he was pretty sure that was the kid's name, said. They had walked in silence before he started telling stories. A lot of stories. It had gotten to the point where Maedhros would do just about anything for some quiet. Maedhros didn't know someone could be that much of an idiot but he was proved wrong. "What about you, any stories from your childhood?" Sokka asked.

Maedhros was seriously debating telling Sokka about the kinslayings in an effort to shut him up. "My father threatened his half brother and got us banished," he decided on saying. Thankfully, Sokka didn't say anything to that.

"....Did you really have a childhood like that or are you trying to get me to ask questions?" Sokka asked.

Maedhros reminded himself that killing the kid probably wouldn't work in the Spirit World and if he shows up with one of the Avatar's friends it might help. "Maybe I was trying to get you to shut up," he said.

Sokka just laughed in response to that. "Nah, it's too boring to wander around here without talking to someone," he said.

"Perhaps others would enjoy the quiet," Maedhros hissed at Sokka. Sokka shrugged.

"Unless you find someone else around here for me to talk to, you'll have to do," he said. "Do you have any stories? I've already told a lot, and I'll be quiet for a bit if you tell me a good one."

Maedhros didn't have any good stories to tell Sokka. It had been a long time since he had not been troubled with thoughts of the dark past. "I have no stories that you would want to hear," he decided on.

"I want to hear them," Sokka decided.

"No, you don't," Maedhros said.

Sokka crossed his arms. "You haven't even told me what they're about," he defended, "I can't decide what I think about them until you at least tell me!"

Maedhros paused his attack on the plants and turned to face Sokka. "They are of murder and torture. They are not stories you should want to hear."

Finally, that seemed to shut Sokka up. They walked in silence. Maedhros wonders if he had been a little too harsh with Sokka. Fingon would probably tell him to apologize, or try to befriend the kid. Sometimes, it seemed like he was competing with Finrod to see how many people he could make like him.

"You know, my sister was really upset that you turned out to be a Fire Nation spy," Sokka said.

Fingon would be more upset with that fact. "Perhaps, if people had not forgotten history she wouldn't have been so surprised," Maedhros said.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that you're not a nice person. How Katara managed to like you I'll never know," Sokka said.

Maedhros frowned slightly. He might be able to become friends with someone, if he wasn't upset and on edge. Everything was so weird here and he had not had to deal with constant conversation in an age. "It was mostly Fingon. He is more gentle," he admitted.

"How did you guys even meet?" Sokka asked.

Maedhros frowned as he tried to remember. He knew about Fingon when his father came home with the news that Fingolfin had a son. "I think it was when he was yelling at one of my brothers," he said.

"You have brothers?" Sokka asked.

"Six."

Sokka whistled. "That's a lot of siblings. I only have Katara and sometimes I want to throw her off an iceberg. Having 6 siblings must be horrible."

Maedhros smiled slightly. His brothers were some of the most annoying people he had ever met, although he still loved them, and missed them. The plants around them had started to thin, and in the far distance Maedhros could see the tops of trees. "It was, although I miss them now that they have left."

"Well you can always visit them, right?" Sokka said. Maedhros shrugged, he wasn't sure if they would even want to see him again. He wasn't able to keep them alive and he chose to die. They walked in silence, the trees slowly growing larger. There were also a couple of rocks that had started poking up through the ground. The second they came across a rock large enough to sit on, Sokka flopped on top of it.

"We've been walking forever," he said. "There's nothing around here but stupid bamboo."

Right, he couldn't see the trees because humans had weak eyes. Maedhros looked around and sat down on another rock. "There's trees if we keep walking," he said. Sokka sat up straighter and squinted into the distance.

"You're messing with me, there's no trees anywhere," he said suspiciously. "Or there's a trap somewhere and you're leading me to the Fire Nation!"

Maedhros rolled his eyes. "Why would I do that? You said we're in the spirit world and last I checked the Fire Nation isn't here," he said.

"That's just what you want me to think!"

Where was this suspicion when they had been walking? He just kept telling stories to Maedhros and only now he thinks that he might be in some sort of possible danger. "If I was going to bring you to the Fire Nation I wouldn't have spent hours listening to you talk about your life," he said.

Sokka frowned. "Listen, if we keep walking I promise we will see trees," Maedhros said. That got Sokka to stand up. Maedhros led the way through the bamboo and watched as the trees grew larger as they got closer. The ground was getting damper, and soon they were wading through puddles of water.

They emerged out of the plants into a forest filled with huge trees. The forest felt even more wrong then when they had been walking through the bamboo. "Finally! I can see more than two feet in front of me!" Sokka said. He looked around and took out a weird club looking weapon. "Now we need to find some meat, I'm hungry and the village did not have the best food to choose from," he said.

Maedhros frowned. "Are you sure that would be wise?" he asked.

"Yes! And I'm betting there's food that way," Sokka said, pointing in what looked to Maedhros to be a random direction. He sighed but followed Sokka as they walked deeper into the forest.

______________________

  
  


Zuko woke up to the presence of the sun and a tree root digging into his back. A small fire was burning along with the smell of roasted meat. Uncle and Fingon were sitting around the flames. Zuko sat up and Fingon handed him what remained of the animal. "Eat quickly, we need to make it to the village as soon as possible," Fingon said.

Zuko ate the bland meat. They hadn't brought any spice and it was tough and gamey. As soon as he finished it they put the fire out and started walking. Fingon seemed to be more tense than normal, although Zuko couldn't find out why. They had gotten Uncle out safely and had seen no sign of pursuit.

"Why's Fingon upset?" Zuko whispered to Uncle. It was unnerving to not see Fingon smiling and sharing tea with Uncle. It was also strange to not see Maedhros walking alongside him.

Uncle slowed his steps to walk next to Zuko. "Fingon has learned that Maedhros disappeared last night," he whispered back.

Zuko didn't know how Fingon found that out. Although his worry was clearer now. Maedhros and Fingon seemed very close. "Wait, if he disappeared where are we going?" he asked.

Fingon looked back at them. "Towards the village," he said curtly. He was definitely worried, Zuko could see the fear in his eyes. Which meant he must be very worried if Zuko was able to see. He was never the best at reading people, that was always Azula.

"Isn't the Avatar there?" he asked.

Fingon nodded. "Yes, although if something was able to overpower Maedhros to the extent where we have heard nothing of a battle there is a bigger problem than the Avatar escaping us," he said.

That sounded ominous in ways Zuko didn't want to think of. He could remember the ship that had come painted with the red blood. There was no injury when Fingon and Maedhros came back after that event. Zuko knew that he needed to capture the Avatar and go home, but now he was more creeped out by the forest. The trees seemed to be watching them and it was not comforting.

They walked in an expectant silence, as though they were waiting for something to jump out at them. Whether it be earthbenders or a new threat. "What are we going to do when we reach the village?" Zuko asked.

"Get answers," Fingon said. Zuko really hoped they found Maedhros soon, an angry Fingon was not someone he wanted to be around longer than needed.

He knew they were getting close when they came across the burnt swath of forest. Husks of dead trees stuck out of the ground like toothpicks and a fine coating of ash covered every surface. Zuko felt sick as he realized it was firebenders who had done this. Even Fingon paused and stared at the empty land.

"We need to keep moving," he said after a moment of silence. The ash swirled around him as he walked. Zuko and Uncle followed behind him. Soon, they entered the forest again. This time on a clear path. It led to a small decrepit village. Zuko could see the Avatar's bison and one Water Tribe peasant, although the rest of the group wasn't there.

Fingon strode straight up to Katara. "Where," he said, "is Maedhros."

______________________

  
  


Sokka waded through the tepid water. He had chosen a direction and was going to stick to it until he found a form of meat. There had to be something edible here. The trees were growing closer together and thin strands of spider web could be seen. Sokka almost suggested they head back when he heard a splash and the sound of something moving. He ran after it, ignoring Maedhros yelling at him to wait before stopping suddenly.

It was much darker here. It was almost a tunnel of webs and Sokka did not want to find out what had been big enough to make that. Maedhros ran up behind him and grabbed Sokka's shoulder. "We need to leave, now," he said.

There was the spine chilling sound of something with  _ too many legs _ moving behind them. "Little Maitimo has come back," a hissing voice said above them. Maedhros tensed up, his grip on Sokka's arm was almost bruising. "And he brought a little friend."

Maedhros let go of Sokka and unsheathed his sword. "Stay behind me," he said. Sokka looked back towards the shining light of the forest. Above them was the twinkling eyes of a huge spider.

"You survived much longer than anyone was expecting. Longer when my sisters and I weren't allowed to feed on the broken elf pretending to be a prince," the spider was saying. "There's no one to protect you or your friend now," she gloated.

There was the sound of shifting as the spider moved down and closer to them. "Get out of our way, spawn of Ungoliant," Maedhros said. His voice rang with authority and Sokka was very glad that he was on his side. For now, anyways.

The spider recoiled. "The little kinslayer dares to tell me what to do?" she hissed.

That didn't sound good. Not only was the spider obviously refusing to move, but the title  _ kinslayer _ did not sound like something a good guy would have.

Seeming to read Sokka's mind, the spider continued. "Your companion doesn't know who you are? Maedhros the tall, Maedhros the kinslayer. A doomed elf bound by a terrible oath. The firstborn of Fëanor," the spider hissed. Half of those words flew over Sokka's head but the point was made clear.

"Get out of our way and you may live to see another day," Maedhros said, holding his sword up.

The spider came closer. "I'm hungry," she hissed. "You won't be getting out of here alive. I wonder where you will go? Perhaps to the void you had sworn yourself to earlier. Not that you wouldn't deserve going there," she said. The spider inched forwards a bit more, still out of reach of the long sword. "You know that, don't you? That's why your still not healed. The only way your victims will truly know you have gotten what you deserve is when they know the void has taken you."

Sokka grabbed Maedhros' arm above the stump. He didn't know what exactly the spider was saying but he was getting the gist. She was trying to get Maedhros to give up. Seeing as he was the one currently protecting Sokka from the murderous demon spider. "That's not true, we need to get out of here than we can decide what you do, or do not deserve," he said.

"It is time we take our leave," Maedhros said, his voice seemed kind of shaky but he wasn't agreeing with the spider so Sokka was counting it as a win.

The spider screeched and ran towards them. Maedhros pushed Sokka down and met the spider's attack. He pushed himself up and watched as the spider and Maedhros engaged in combat. Sokka looked down at his weapon and up at the spider. He knew he wasn't at the tall man's level and it looked like he was struggling.

"Run!" Maedhros yelled at him as he blocked one attack of the spider. He yelled as the spider managed to slip past the armor and draw blood. Sokka stood up and backed towards the exit. It was starting to look like Maedhros was losing, which was not something Sokka wanted to happen. Sure the guy was Fire Nation but he was also keeping Sokka from becoming spider food.

Sokka swallowed and turned to run towards the exit. He might be able to find someone to help him with the spider. He made it to the exit and started yelling. Sokka looked back at the spider hole when he heard Maedhros scream.

Sokka spotted a figure moving through the trees. "Help!" he yelled. The man looked over and ran up to him. He had curly brown hair falling to his shoulders and was wearing armor as well as holding a sword. Sokka pointed to the tunnel. "Spider," he said, hoping that would get the point across.

Surprisingly, the man actually understood. He nodded and ran straight into the tunnel. Sokka followed behind him, holding his club. The spider had pinned Maedhros down but he seemed to still be breathing. His sword had fallen out of his hand and was sitting on the floor.

The newcomer attacked the spider with a yell. Sokka ran over to Maedhros. "Hey, you okay?" he asked.

Maedhros looked over at Sokka. His eyes were slightly clouded and he frowned when he recognized who was above him. "I thought I told you to run," he said.

Sokka shrugged. "I got help, now we need to get out of here," he said, trying to get Maedhros to his feet. Ugh, why did he need to be so awkwardly tall? It was hard enough one someone the same size as you to their feet, but someone who was much taller than you, practically impossible.

The man drove back the spider into the tunnel. He forced the spider past Maedhros and then knelt next to Sokka. He gasped in surprise. "Maedhros?" he asked as they helped him get to his feet.

Maedhros looked over at the man. "Elros? What are you doing?" he asked.

The man, Elros, shushed him. "We're taking you to my current home, then we can talk more," he said. They walked away from the creepy spider hole. Elros led Sokka and Maedhros towards a small platform. A fireplace sat in the middle of a small, dry clearing. Elros and Sokka layed Maedhros down and Elros stripped off the armor.

Elros frowned at the sight of blood and lit the fire, putting a pot over it and heating up some water. "How did you get here?" he asked.

"There was a forest spirit and it grabbed us," Sokka said. Maedhros nodded in agreement. Elros put some plants into the water and started making what was beginning to look like tea. Sokka wasn't going to complain about it, but some meat would be better than leaf juice in his opinion.

Elros looked over at Maedhros, who was starting to fall asleep. "Keep him awake," he ordered.

Sokka flailed his arms wildly for a couple seconds. Katara was always the one dealing herb injuries in the team, he had no idea what to do. After allowing himself a couple moments of panic, Sokka started poking Maedhros' face. Maedhros grunted and weakly tried to knock Sokka's hand away.

Elros came over with a cup of warm tea and raised Maedhros to a sitting position. After drinking the tea, Maedhros finally started to look slightly better. He was, at least, slightly more aware of his surroundings.

"You with us?" Elros asked.

Maedhros blinked at them in confusion. "Elros?" he asked again.

Elros nodded and helped him sit up fully. Maedhros looked more confused than Sokka was expecting. As soon as it was clear Maedhros would be able to support himself, Elros leaned back and stared at him. "I never thought I would see you again," he said. "You left us, Maglor promised you'd come back and the next thing we hear about you is that you had jumped into a volcano!"

Maedhros winced and looked down. "I thought, we had already done so much damage," he said. "You and Elrond deserved better than us," he added.

Sokka looked between them. He really didn't know what was going on. The bumbling into a volcano seemed to be a pretty serious thing. Sokka had no idea how Maedhros had survived that, although seeing as he was sitting in front of them he must have. "We didn't want you to die!" Elros exclaimed. "Do you not remember the day before you stole the silmarils?"

Yep, Sokka really didn't know anything about these people. He kind of wanted to ask what had happened in their past, except it was starting to sound like some things that would give Sokka nightmares.

"I remember that day clearly, if I had listened to Maglor things might have turned out better," Maedhros said. He sighed and looked down at his hand. Elros followed his gaze and gasped.

He grabbed Maedhros' hand and looked at it. Burn scars covered the palm of his hand. "Did it?" Elros asked.

"We had become like Morgoth, the silmaril rejected us," Maedhros said.

Sokka looked between them. "Will someone please explain to me what is going on?" Maedhros and Elros seemed to realize he was still there. They looked back at each other, then back to Sokka. Turning away from Sokka they started whispering together. He contemplated inching closer and seeing if he could hear anything, but after seeing both of them fight a giant spider Sokka wasn't sure he would want them to be angry at him. Whatever, he could just see if Aang knew anything about them due to his 'bridge to the spirit world' thing he just found out.

______________________

  
  


Fingon was staring down Katara, waiting for an answer. The giant bison behind her would be intimidating if it didn't look so sad. He crossed his arms and waited. Maedhros had gone missing in this village and he wasn't leaving without the red haired elf. His hand was resting on the hilt of his sword. "I will not be leaving without him, and neither will you," he said.

Katara got angrier. "If I want to leave here I will and you won't be able to do anything to stop me!" she snapped at Fingon.

"We won't have to find out if you tell me where Maedhros is," Fingon said. He was going his best to keep civil, but Maedhros was missing and potentially in danger. He figured he could be excused if he started yelling.

The few villagers in the village were scurrying towards the largest building. Katara waited until they were all inside before answering. "He's gone," she said smugly, "the spirit of Hei Bai took him."

Fingon tightened his grip on his sword. He didn't know who, or what, Hei Bai is but if it took Maedhros they were going to have words. Words that may involve using some of Maglor's battle songs and his sword. "Where was he taken?" Fingon demanded, he had walked to Angband and freed Maedhros from Thangorodrim, he was sure he could pull another rescue attempt somewhere else.

"The spirit world," Katara answered. Okay, this might be a little more difficult than the last rescue he pulled. Fingon had no idea where or what the spirit world was. It couldn't be Valinor, and it would have to be close. "No one who Hei Bai has taken ever came back," she added, "Besides, I doubt that he would even be allowed to come back."

Fingon scowled. "You know nothing of who Maedhros is," he said. "It is not up to you to decide whether he should be allowed somewhere." He took a step towards Katara and noted a flash of fear in her eyes. From what Fingon had seen on Kyoshi, it didn't look like she was a fighter.

There wasn't anyone with her either. He was sure there had been the Avatar and another kid with them when they had left. Although where they were Fingon didn't know anymore. "I know he is a Fire Nation spy who isn't afraid to use people so that he can help capture Aang," she responded.

Fingon almost laughed, she didn't know anything. They didn't know where the Fire Nation was and the thought of either Maedhros or Fingon being subtle enough to be a spy was hilarious. "You know nothing, as I have said earlier," he said.

"I know enough! He and his people have killed innocents. The Fire Nation killed my mother! Anyone who works with them are cruel, I bet they don't even care about their family," Katara yelled.

Fingon unsheathed his sword. Katara shrunk under the force of his glare. "He has watched his brothers die after trying to protect them," Fingon said. "The actions of what someone has done in war does not make their character," he said. "Do not place your judgment upon him without knowing who he is and what he has done."

Katara yelled angrily and lifted her hands. Water lifted into the air, the movements were shaky and she obviously hadn't ever been trained. Even knowing nothing about bending Fingon could see that. She didn't have a chance to act when the Avatar himself dropped out of the sky between them.

Fingon heard Zuko inhale behind him. They may have a chance to get the Avatar and Maedhros later today. "What is going on?" the kid asked as he looked between Katara and Fingon.

"They showed up and started threatening the village," Katara informed him. "We need to leave as soon as possible."

The Avatar studied the firebenders and Fingon. "They don't look very threatening to me," he said. "And I'm not leaving until we get Sokka back and help the village."

Fingon lowered his sword carefully. "I give you my word we will not attack if you help me get Maedhros back," he said.

"Did Hei Bai take him?" The kid asked. Katara looked murderous behind him. Fingon couldn't blame her on that front. It looked like the Avatar wasn't the best on knowing who to trust.

Fingon nodded, "So I've been told."

"Oh, then I guess once I find out how to get Hei Bai to stop taking villagers we can work to bring back everyone he's taken," the Avatar said cheerfully.

Fingon admired the kid's persistence optimism. He doubted anything could happen that would bring this kid down. Fingon felt a little bad for working with Zuko to help capture him. There was no doubt that if they managed to capture him he wouldn't be allowed to enjoy his life. If he was as powerful as Fingon had been told the Fire Nation would keep him under heavy watch in some obscure prison somewhere.

Perhaps, kidnapping the kid wasn't the best opportunity. He would have to find out what was going to happen to the kid and maybe they could find a different way to end the war. Zuko cared about people, even during the battle he hadn't tried to hurt his enemies anymore than he needed. It shouldn't be that hard to convince him to take an alternate way to end the war.

"Since we can't do anything until tonight, would you guys like to help repair the village?" the Avatar asked sheepishly. Fingon looked around at the sad excuse for a village.

Ignoring Zuko's offended sounds he agreed to help repair the village. Fingon sheathed his sword and Katara and the Avatar looked a lot more relaxed. Despite Zuko's angry muttering about how a prince shouldn't have to be working like this, they managed to repair a substantial amount of the buildings. The sun was starting to set and everyone was forced into the village hall. Only the Avatar stayed outside. He would be the one dealing with the spirit.

______________________

  
  


Elros didn't actually hate him. Maedhros had been sure he would have, he and Maglor had been the reason his parents had left. He had also forced Maglor to join him in stealing the silmarils and they left their adoptive sons. Maedhros had died and as far as he knew Maglor stayed out of the way of everyone.

Elros had explained some of Maedhros' backstory to Sokka. He stayed away from some of the more sensitive topics, only vaguely mentioning them before continuing on. Maedhros leaned back and closed his eyes, letting the conversation wash over him. Normally missing an arm didn't slow him down, but when faced with a creature with eight arms being down one is not that good. And maybe he listened a little too much to what the spider was saying.

He wished Fingon was here. Fingon had been better at dealing with people in a friendly situation than Maedhros ever since he had returned from Angband. Elros had lowered his voice and was whispering to Sokka. Maedhros looked at them and coughed lightly. "Is there a reason you're whispering, Elros?" he asked.

"Just didn't want to bother you," Elros said innocently. He was wearing the same expression he had when he and Elrond had snuck into Maedhros' room because he kept a stache of baked goods in the corner. He had walked in and found the elflings sitting in the corner with the most innocent faces they could muster.

Maedhros sat up more and looked at Elros. "That has never stopped you before and I don't see why it should now," he said.

"It wasn't a bad story! I just thought you might try to stop me like you did when that one person came and I was trying to tell them it," he said.

Maedhros snorted. The only reason he had stopped Elros because nobody needed to hear about the time he yelled at Maglor about how he would always stay up so late back in Valinor only to fall asleep when he tripped walking down the stairs. Maedhros was sure that was the moment the twins stopped being terrified he was going to kill them in their sleep. He wasn't but during the last years of his life Maedhros could admit he did not look kind and was sometimes harsher then he needed to be.

"That elf did not need to hear about that event," Maedhros said. "I had a reputation to maintain despite that reputation doing nothing for me," he added. He also was trying to deal with the on going war that they were definitely losing at that point, and nearly everyone being dead at that point.

Elros rolled his eyes. "You never told me that was why! I thought that I wasn't allowed to ever tell anyone that story and for once I actually did what you said!"

"Of all the things you could've done for me it was that?" Maedhros asked. Elros had never really listened to either him or Maglor. He did occasionally when he knew that they were serious, and apparently Elros never told anyone about that story.

Elros shrugged. "I figured it was the least I could do for you," he said. "I did end up writing it down somewhere, through," he added.

Maedhros nodded and looked up at the sky. The spider venom was still making him feel slightly dizzy, but whatever Elros had given him had brought the symptoms down. Hopefully, he would be fully healed in a couple of days, and he would be back in Middle Earth. Maedhros loved Elros, but he missed Fingon. He closed his eyes again and listened as Elros told Sokka of the happier times they had. Before Maedhros and Maglor left him.

He didn't realize he had drifted off until Elros shook him awake. "I found an exit for you and Sokka," he said. Maedhros stood up slowly and gathered his armor. Sokka was standing at the edge of the campsite, anxious to leave. They walked back towards the bamboo forest. Sokka entered first, but Maedhros hung back.

He looked down at Elros and pulled him into a hug. "I'll miss you," he whispered. Elros clung to him before pushing him towards the forest.

"You can't stay here, I've made my choice. When you see Elrond tell him I him and that he is allowed to tell everyone about your sleep deprived rant," Elros said. He smiled at him and Maedhros turned and pushed his way through the bamboo.

He had a couple moments to orient himself before Fingon charged into him. "I nearly pulled a page from your brother's book and attacked a village," he muttered into Maedhros' shoulder. Fingon leaned back to look Maedhros in the eye. "You are not allowed to ever go...wherever you went," he said.

Maedhros nodded. "I'll make sure I'm never in that situation again," he said. Behind Fingon, he could see Sokka getting onto what must be the flying bison. "Should we be stopping him?" he asked.

Fingon looked at them as they lifted into the air. "I think we've missed our chance."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might write out some other thoughts of this chapter and stick them into the deleted scenes, in case any of you want to read those.


	6. A Specific Beach Wanderer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is taking me a lot longer than I would like, and I got an idea of what Maglor has been doing.
> 
> Also, I'm thinking or updating Wednesday and Saturday (I say as I post on Friday)
> 
> Very short, fair warning

Maglor walked along the beach, humming quietly. He normally didn't start far from a small cave he had made his home in. He didn't have a lot of luxuries, but it was reasonably comfortable. He knew there was a village close by, and today was one of the days he would lurk on the edge to see if he could hear any news. Middle Earth had changed a lot since the First Age.

He came up into the view of the village and softly sung fog to wrap around it. Sometimes he wondered if anyone would actually care if he walked right into the village, but most of his experiences with that ended up with a lot of people screaming and occasionally a kinslaying. There weren't any elves left, so at least Maglor couldn't be in a fifth kinslaying.

He walked along the edges of the village, listening for any scraps of conversation. He heard talk of everyday occurrences, how the fishing was going, what someone had said earlier.

"Have you heard the Avatar has returned?" someone said. Maglor paused for a moment. He remembered having seen the Avatar at one point. Maglor had written a song for her, he wondered if anyone still sung it.

Because of his musings, he missed some of the conversation. Instead, he started listening again as they started talking about the Fire Nation Prince. It seemed that he had found two spirits to accompany him. Maglor felt a chill run down his spine as he heard the description. There were two, one with flaming hair and a burning gaze, the other with eyes as hard and bright as ice and hair as dark as a moonless night.

The descriptions were like what Maedhros had said when he had returned from Thangorodrim. The descriptions of what he had said Morgoth and Sauron had looked like. They couldn't be back. Morgoth had been thrown into the void, and Sauron had long since left Middle Earth. There wasn't any escape from the void anyways, Maglor assured himself. It didn't stop the sinking feeling that if they truly had returned, no one on Middle Earth would be able to fight them.

Maglor slipped away from the village, it might be time for him to come out of his self-imposed exile. If only to make sure Middle Earth wasn't about to fall under the control of a Dark Lord.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maglor thinking Morgoth and Sauron are Maedhros and Fingon is one of my favorite things to have written. If you can guess the Avatar he met I'll give you virtual candy.


	7. Pirates!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took forever. But I got it posted on my new schedule!!

They walked back to the  _ Wani _ as soon as Maedhros made it clear he wasn't going to collapse on the spot. Zuko would have liked to go faster, they were losing the Avatar's trail, but Maedhros looked like he had been run over by a wagon. At least Fingon wasn't looking as murderous as before. The walk back to the beach was tense. In the beginning, Fingon had asked what happened, but Maedhros would say he would tell him when he had rested a bit.

They stepped onto the  _ Wani  _ and Zuko ordered the crew to start moving. He could just barely see the sky bison as it flew away, a couple minutes and it would be lost to view. They slipped into the wide ocean and started heading for the last sight of the sky bison.

Fingon made Maedhros sit down so that he could stand above him. "Now, how in all of Arda Marred are you the only one injured from that group of people?" he asked.

"It turns out some of the spiders from Angband had survived," Maedhros said. Zuko looked at Maedhros and decided he would never want to see the size of a  _ spider _ that had done that to the tall redhead. "I'm not even injured that badly," he added.

Fingon crossed his arms and glared at Maedhros. "Really? Then take off your shirt," he said. Maedhros shifted uncomfortably and scooted away from Fingon.

"I'm actually quite tired, surely this can wait until tomorrow," he said. He continued moving away from Fingon before standing up and looking around the  _ Wani _ .

"Maitimo Nelyafinwë Fëanorion get back here right now," Fingon yelled. The few crewmen still on the deck stopped what they were doing to watch Fingon and Maedhros. Zuko watched as Maedhros trudged back to Fingon.

Fingon makes Maedhros sit down again and helped him peel off the armor and undershirt. There were some white bandages wrapped around his midsection. Fingon looked over at Zuko. "Do you have any clean bandages 

?" he asked.

"Yes, they're in our makeshift medical room," Zuko answered. The  _ Wani _ was one of the older models so it wasn't really equipped with the space to hold wounded soldiers like the newer ships had. Instead, Uncle had people bring in supplies and turned their only extra room into a small hospital. Zuko never really liked being there, he had spent enough time there recovering from his burn.

Fingon nodded, "Would you be willing to bring this idiot there?" he asked, "I need to get my harp." Normally, Zuko would argue that because he was a prince he shouldn't have to do such things as this. However, Seeing Fingon angry only moments before he decided that it would be best if he didn't further antagonize the man. Zuko led Maedhros down towards the room, wondering why Fingon needed to grab his harp of all things. A harp couldn't heal somebody, injure someone, yes, but heal? Not possible at all.

Fingon walked in holding his harp. He ordered Maedhros to take off the bandages. Zuko hovered near the doorway. He wanted to see what the harp was for, but didn't want to get roped into helping. Without the white bandages to cover up his injuries, Maedhros looked a lot worse. He had mottled purple and yellow bruises, as well as a couple sluggishly bleeding cuts. The most prominent injury were two puncture marks, they were surrounded by an ashy purple color. Maedhros frowned as he looked down at it. "For the record, I didn't think it would be that bad," he said.

"You got bit by the spider," Fingon said flatly. He looked like he wanted to throw something at Maedhros. "I've seen you fight balrogs and win, how did the spider bite you?" he asked.

Maedhros shifted uncomfortably. "I was a little distracted," he said.

Fingon sighed and strummed on his harp. "We'll be talking about your distractions when you're healed," he said. He started playing and Zuko watches in amazement as Maedhros' skin started to disappear. As soon as any signs of infection were gone Fingon slowly stopped singing and wrapped up Maedhros' injuries. Why he hadn't healed everything, Zuko didn't know. Fingon did look a little more tired, perhaps it did use some energy from whoever was singing.

"How did that work?" Zuko asked. He figured it was a safer time for him to make his presence known. Fingon was rewrapping Maedhros' torso with new bandages. The old one sitting in a small heap at their feet.

Fingon finished and picked up the bandages and the torn shirt. He threw the soiled bandages into a small trash bin in the corner and looked over at the shirt. "It is a song of power, they aren't as strong here in Middle Earth, but they still hold some of their power," he said.

"Can you fight with one of those songs?" Zuko asked. If they could use those songs in battle it may help to capture the Avatar!

Fingon nodded. "There are a couple, although Maedhros and I don't know many, and it's easier to use our weapons," he said.

It sounded like those songs weren't going to be as useful as Zuko had hoped. At least the song could help heal any injuries anyone gets while they're chasing the Avatar. Zuko stifled a yawn and folded his arms. "I'm going to my room," he said. He tilted his head slightly in the air. "You're welcome to stay here if you feel too tired to move back to your ship," he said before turning and walking away. Zuko couldn't wait to return back to his futon, sleeping on the ground with nothing was not an experience Zuko wanted.

The next morning he found Fingon and Maedhros on the deck. Maedhros was frowning and firmly looking away from Fingon. "Why is Maedhros upset?" he asked.

"Because  _ someone _ said that I can't spar today while I'm recovering," Maedhros said, turning to glare at Fingon. It looked like Zuko wouldn't be practicing his dao with anyone today.

"You got bit by one of Ungoliant's spawn! Besides, you can handle not practicing for a day," Fingon retorted. Maedhros huffed and turned away. Zuko decided to stay out of that mess and ask what Ungoliant was later. Probably another large spider. Instead, Zuko started practicing his firebending. He was doing pretty good until he nearly got thrown overboard when the ship changed its course.

He yelled and turned towards the bridge angrily. "What is the meaning of this mutiny! Who told you to change course?" Zuko yelled as he stomped into the bridge.

"Actually, someone did. It is a matter of utmost importance," Uncle said. He was sitting at his designated, pai sho table.

"Is it the Avatar?" Zuko asked, hope bleeding into his voice. Maedhros and Fingon had walked in behind him.

Uncle stood up. "Even more important," he said. Zuko wasn't sure anything was more important than the Avatar, or food and other necessary supplies like that, although last he checked they still had enough supplies to last them through a week or two. "It seems I have lost my lotus tile," he said.

Fingon, Uncle's favorite pai sho partner, gasped when Uncle said that. "Lotus tile?" Zuko asked.

Uncle nodded enthusiastically. "For my game. Most people think the lotus tile insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ," he said slyly.

"You changed our course for a stupid pai sho tile?" Zuko asked, doing his best not to yell. Once he lost his temper Uncle would try to convince him he needed to have some calming tea.

"See, you, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call," Uncle said. Zuko grit his teeth, he wasn't going to be able to stop Uncle from going unless he steered the ship himself. "Hopefully, they will have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life," Uncle said excitedly. His life? This was Zuko's only chance at returning home. If Uncle really wanted to get on with his life he could already have returned to the Fire Nation. Zuko breathed fire towards the ceiling in anger and turned to walk away. "I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew," Uncle commented from behind him.

Maedhros chuckled a bit and Zuko stomped more forcefully as he walked away. They were close, Zuko would give it an hour before they got to port. After that, Uncle could find his stupid tile and they could go back to their search.

______________________

  
  


Zuko was waiting by the  _ Wani  _ for Uncle to return. He felt like he had been standing there forever, surely it didn't take this long to find a singly pai sho tile. Maedhros and Fingon had decided they wanted to come ashore. Fingon had gone with Uncle and Maedhros was standing next to Zuko.

Maedhros' height and strange clothes combined with Zuko's scar gathered some strange looks, but no one came up to talk to them. Finally, Uncle came walking back. They would finally be able to leave the port.

"I've checked all the shops on this pier. Not a lotus tile in the entire marketplace," Uncle said.

Zuko scowled. "Good to know this trip has been a waste for everyone," he growled. No one had actually bought anything.

"Quite the contrary. I always say, the only thing better than finding something you are looking for. Is finding something else at a great bargain!" Uncle said as crew members started loading his purchases onto the  _ Wani _ .

He heard a couple notes from the tsungi horn and saw someone playing it as they loaded stuff onboard. "You bought another tsungi horn? Why would we need two?" he asked angrily.

"For music night, of course!" Uncle said happily. "Now, if only we could find some woodwinds," he mused as he looked around. "Oh, this place looks promising!" Uncle said as he pointed to a wooden ship with a couple shady looking people aboard. He followed Uncle aboard along with Fingon and Maedhros. Uncle browsed along the shelves stuffed full of useless items. He stopped in front of a statue of a monkey with ruby eyes. "That is magnificent, wouldn't it look amazing in the galley?" he said as he pointed it.

Fingon nodded in agreement. "I think it looks cool," he said. Looking back at the items Uncle had bought, Zuko was pretty sure that Fingon had played a large part in buying them. Standing at one end of the room was a man with a green parrot iguana on his shoulder. Judging by the large expanse of items they had it wouldn't surprise Zuko if this was a pirate ship.

He rolled his eyes and looked at the items on the shelves. There really wasn't anything useful. There were a couple knives, although they looked more for decoration than actually serving a purpose. Maedhros was looking at them, and judging by his vaguely disappointed look he had realized the same thing.

"We lost the Water Tribe girl and the little bald monk she was travelling with," Zuko heard someone say. He turned and looked over to the skinny green clothed man talking to the captain.

"This monk, did he have an arrow in his forehead?" he asked. Perhaps this excursion to the port wouldn't be completely useless.

The two men looked at him. "Yeah, big blue arrow," the green one said. The Avatar was here, and this time they didn't have any missing members to worry about. 

"Why are you searching for the monk and this girl?" Maedhros asked.

"The little girl stole a valuable Water Tribe scroll!" The green guy said angrily.

Zuko had never thought anyone in the Avatar's little group would have stolen anything. Although, seeing as it was the Water Tribe girl he couldn't find himself to be that surprised. She kind of seemed like someone who wouldn't take no for an answer. Maedhros nudged him gently, as though trying to get him to say something.

Zuko looked at Maedhros with a questioning glance. What was he supposed to say? They knew the Avatar was here all they had to do was find the kid and go back home. Maedhros discreetly mimed holding something and nodded towards the pirates. What was he trying to...oh! The Water Tribe girl had stolen something the scroll the pirates wanted so they would be looking for her! "We will help you find the girl and the scroll if you help me capture the monk," Zuko said.

The captain studied Zuko and then looked over at the small group. "Fine, if you help me get the water bending scroll the girl stole, we'll help you capture the monk," he said.

"Start heading down the river, they will need to be close by water to practice, but far enough away from the village not to be seen," Zuko ordered. The captain frowned slightly hut carried out his order, leaving Oh (apparently that was the other guy's name) to watch them. Zuko presumed it was to make sure they didn't steal anything. He was kind of affronted at the thought that someone would think he would have to resort to stealing something. Zuko was the Prince of the Fire Nation, he could have anything he wanted. As soon as he returned home, that is.

It seemed Fingon had realized the same thing, seeing as he started messing with everything within reach. He would toss things in the air, move them around the shelves, carry something for a bit before placing it somewhere else. It was amusing to watch as Oh got more and more tense the longer it went on.

It took a little longer than Zuko would have liked, but he soon felt the movement of the ship as they pulled away from the dock. He moved towards the open door, it was time to find the Avatar.

______________________

  
  


Maedhros made sure he stayed near Zuko while they were on the ship. Fingon was near Iroh, who probably would know when to stop bothering someone. Zuko obviously didn't know when he needed to stop acting like he owned the place. They kept sailing slowly along the river, watching for any signs of what could be the Avatar's group.

"Shouldn't we be searching in the forest?" The captain asked as he walked up.

"They stole a waterbending scroll, they need water to practice," Zuko said. The Captain grunted and turned away. Maedhros turns his attention onto the river, keeping an eye on Zuko to make sure he didn't wander too far away. When the sun set, Iroh and Fingon came up to join them. With only the light from the moon to guide them, the pirates slowed down. Finally, Maedhros spotted what he was looking for. A girl in blue bending water.

"She's just up ahead," he said in a soft voice, just loud enough for those around him to hear. Zuko squinted into the darkness, and within a couple moments the pirates noticed her too. They beached the ship and the pirates ran towards the girl. One of them managed to grab her, but she forced him to let go by doing something with the water.

Maedhros followed Zuko as he ran to intercept the girl. Grabbing her wrists and forcing them down to keep her from bending. "Don't worry, I'll save you from the pirates," he said.

Ah, they were trying to be dramatic with this. Maedhros could almost hear his family approving of the kid's choice of action. They brought her closer to the boat and tied her to a tree. Fingon and Maedhros kept the pirates away from them as they talked. It wasn't that hard, a couple well placed glares and a hand on his sword was all it took for the pirates to keep their distance. They obviously didn't like it, and were watching them anxiously.

Fingon glanced back at Zuko and moved closer to Maedhros. "You might want to go help him out. It doesn't look like it's going well," Fingon whispered to him. Maedhros turned and looked back at them. Zuko looked like he wanted to set something on fire and the girl was looking absolutely murderous.

He walked over to them before someone could do something drastic. "Has she told you anything yet?" he asked Zuko, ignoring the girl.

Zuko glared at both him and the girl. "No," he said angrily.

"Have you ever actually interrogated someone?" Maedhros asked, lowering his voice.

Zuko flushed, "No," he snapped back.

"Then we'll consider this a lesson, watch and you might be able to do better the next time you have to get unwilling information," Maedhros told Zuko before he walked up to the girl. He stopped in front of her and studied the ropes. "That doesn't look comfortable," he commented.

The girl glared up at him. "I couldn't be more comfortable," she snapped.

Maedhros raised his eyebrows and looked at the red chafing where she had struggled against the ropes. He knew how much those could hurt if you continually moved against them. "I assume you already know why I'm talking to you?" he asked.

"Please enlighten me," the girl responded angrily.

"I can help you. In case you didn't know, you stole from pirates. Sure you may have had a reason but they're not going to care. If you tell me where your camp is, I can help you," he said.

"I'm never going to tell you where it is," she practically yelled at Maedhros. Alright, offering help obviously wasn't working, time to move on to something else.

Maedhros unsheathed his sword and held it up in the moonlight. "If you're not going to tell me anything, then there is no benefit to keeping you alive," he said, lowering the point to rest against her neck. Her eyes widened in fear. Maedhros was pretty sure he wasn't actually going to kill her, she didn't know that. "Unless you tell me where the camp is you will never lay your eyes upon your brother or the Avatar again," he added.

The girl didn't say anything. Maedhros pushed the sword hard enough to draw a little blood. "At least give us the general location," he offered. "I'll give you your life for that."

She bit her lip and looked down. "By the river," she muttered. Maedhros nodded and sheathed his sword, he turned back towards the pirates.

"Search along the river and forest nearby, then you can have your scroll back," he said. The girl had been practicing with it, and Zuko had grabbed the scroll before anyone else could.

The pirates grumbled and a couple started walking towards the forest. The captain glared at him. "And why should we be following you? You're outnumbered and we just want the scroll," he said.

Zuko held up the scroll and put his open palm beneath it. Just barely below 5he fragile paper a small fire burned in his hand. "Unless you want this to burn I suggest you do what we said," Zuko said coolly.

That captain glared at him, but ordered his men to search the forest and river. Maedhros moved away from the girl, keeping her and Zuko in sight. It wouldn't surprise him if the pirates attacked them as soon as they gave them the scroll. Soon, the pirates came back dragging the Avatar and Sokka. They tie the two boys up to another tree, staying between Zuko and the Avatar.

"Had over the scroll," the pirate's captain demanded.

Zuko shook his head. "Give me the boy first, then you can have your scroll," he said. The pirates shifted uneasily. Maedhros watched them carefully, he had no doubt that this was going to end in a fight soon.

It actually was starting to look like the pirates might actually do what they had asked. Looking back on it, everything probably would have turned out well if no one said anything until the deal was done.

______________________

  
  


How did Zuko keep finding them? He was sure they had left him behind back in Hei Bai forest. It was starting to get to the point of annoying. Aang didn't think they were being that noticeable. Perhaps running away from pirates through the town hadn't been the best of ideas, but other than that they couldn't be that noticeable.

Regardless, he was still tied up while Zuko and the pirates were arguing. "You're really going to hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?" Sokka asked, probably louder than necessary.

"What are you doing?" Aang whispered to Sokka.

"Just wait," Sokka whispered back. A couple of pirates, the ones furthest from the captain and Zuko, zoo whispering about how much the Avatar must be worth.

Zuko must have been having the same thoughts because he has a slightly worried expression on his face. The captain turned to look at them. "You're telling me your friend is the Avatar?" he asked. Sokka nodded happily and the captain turned his gaze onto Aang. He turned back to Zuko, "The deal is off. The Avatar will fetch a higher price on the black market than that scroll."

Surprisingly, it wasn't Zuko that answered first. Fingon and Maedhros unsheathed they swords while Zuko slipped the scroll into his belt. "I am afraid we can't allow you to do that," Fingon said pleasantly.

Zuko sent blasts of fire at them and Oh threw down smoke bombs. In the confusion Aang got separated from Sokka, but got out of his rope. "Aang, where are you?" he heard Sokka call other the clash of steel.

"I'm over here! Follow my voice!" Aang called back. Once he found Sokka they could get Katara and leave as quickly as possible.

"Where? I can't find you!" Sokka said, his voice was sounding much closer.

"Here!" Aang called as he airbent the smoke away from him. Only to find himself surrounded by pirates holding pointy weapons. He airbent the smoke back around him as quickly as he could. "Nevermind, I'll find you!" he yelled and jumped up just as the swords and other objects clashed below him. He leaped through the smoke and finally exited, finding Sokka crawling out beneath him. The pirates were still hidden in the smoke.

"Run!" Aang called back as Sokka stood up. In front of them was the pirate's ship. They might be able to use that to escape! Aang stumbled as he noticed just who was at the ship. Zuko, the old guy who followed him around, and Fingon were pushing it into the water. Maedhros was standing on the ship. Cradled in his arms was the limp figure of Katara. Aang felt fear and rage course through him. What had they done to her!

He and Sokka sped up and quickly reached the ship. "What did you do to my sister!" Sokka yelled as they got closer.

"She's alive, but she won't be if you don't help us get this thing into the water," Fingon called sharply to them. Aang didn't want to join up with them, not when they obviously needed to get out of here as quickly as possible. Glancing behind him, Aang noticed that the smoke was finally starting to clear. They started pushing only managing to get it into the water just as the pirates noticed what they were doing.

The ship slid away and started turning. As Aang noticed what direction, he realized that they were turning away from their camp. Appa was there! They needed to get there as soon as possible so they could leave. "You're going the wrong way!" he yelled as Sokka ran to his sister.

"There's a waterfall the other way," Maedhros called back, he and Fingon made sure that they were firmly in the path they had chosen, before walking to Katara and Sokka.

Sokka brandished his boomerang as they got closer. "Only me and Aang are allowed near her," he said. Thankfully, the two men stopped and Aang quickly made his way over to them. Katara didn't appear to have any injuries, her hair was messed up a bit, but she wasn't bleeding. She was still breathing, so they knew she wasn't dead. Aang wasn't sure what he would do if Katara died.

Now that he knew Katara was alive, all they needed was to get off the ship. Without running into pirates. If only there was a way to get Appa here without having to go back to the camp. Aang brightened when he remembered the bison whistle, despite what Sokka said he knew it would work. He quickly patted down his pockets before triumphantly pulling out the whistle.

"Why do you still have that," Sokka asked as he noticed.

"To call Appa so we can get out of here!" Aang answered cheerfully. He raised the whistle to blow air into it only to stop when he heard someone yell no. He looked up and noticed Zuko, who was looking rather confused on why he had yelled, and paused.

"You can't leave yet," Zuko said.

Sokka glared at him. "And why can't we?" he asked. He sounded more angry than Aang had ever heard him, although the fact that Katara wasn't awake probably wasn't helping.

"Uh," Zuko said, "it's music night?"

Music night! Back at the air temples they had some amazing rooms for acoustics, and some really fun instruments. They could stay for music night and then leave, and maybe he could find out why Zuko was chasing them. "We'd love to join you for music night! As long as I can call Appa," Aang said.

Zuko hesitated, but nodded. "What are you doing?" Sokka whispered to Aang.

"Going to music night!" Aang said.

"Yeah, but why. They're Fire Nation! Prince Ponytail has been chasing us ever since we got you out of the ice," Sokka reminded him.

"Maybe we can find out why and get him to stop," Aang said. He would need a firebending teacher eventually, so they would need to find someone who wasn't going to try to attack them at first sight. He wasn't sure if it was supposed to be Zuko, but they were just invited to music night. "And they can't all be bad, Maedhros didn't sound that bad from what you told us," he added.

Sokka frowned, "Well, yeah. But there was what that spider thing said!"

"I wouldn't expect the spider to be saying anything truthfully. He doesn't look like a murderer," Aang said, looking over at the man. So maybe the blood on his sword and spattered lightly over his shirt wasn't helping, but he most likely had never killed children or anything like that. No one could be that terrible.

Sokka sighed but relented. "Fine, we'll go to the music night and then we are leaving," he said. Aang whooped cheerfully and blew on the whistle. It barely made a noise, but he could see Appa flying over to them in the distance. Thankfully, they had left most of the supplies in the saddle, which they had put back on Appa. Sadly, the sleeping bags Sokka and Katara had been using were still on the ground. They would either have to go get them another time, or go buy new ones.

Appa flopped into the water next to the pirate ship. Swimming beside them. Aang jumped over and layed on top of the sky bison's head. He didn't look injured, just a little tired. They were going to have so much fun tonight, it was going to be great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm heading on vacation this Friday and will be back August. Updates will most likely slow during that period, sorry!


	8. Music Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's me! I finished this chapter at 3 in the morning while I was falling asleep so it might not be as good as the others.
> 
> ALSO I got a rock stuck in my foot! It's fine now but it was kind of cool and it hurts to walk a bit. I also got an undercut ans shaved lightning bolts into my head. I'm having so much fun guys.

Why did he invite the Avatar to music night of all things. They weren't even having music night tonight. Not to mention the fact that he's supposed to be capturing the Avatar, not drinking tea and playing the tsungi horn with him.

What was really surprising was that the Avatar had actually accepted. Now he would just need to find a way to keep the Avatar from leaving so he could finally go home. They sailed back to the harbor. The  _ Wani _ was waiting in the same place they had left her. Fingon steered the ship closer. "We will leave you on your ship, we can decide what needs to be done with this when you meet us further out at sea," Maedhros asked.

They got closer and Zuko jumped aboard the  _ Wani _ . As soon as he was on the metal of the deck, the stolen ship turned and headed away from the harbor. Thankfully, the pirates hadn't managed to reach the village yet.

The crew members looked in confusion at him and the sailing ship. "What are you waiting for? Follow them!" Zuko yelled. They quickly ran across the deck and soon they were streaming across the water. It had taken a bit longer than Zuko would have preferred for them to leave, but they were at least moving.

Fingon and Maedhros drew alongside the  _ Wani _ , opposite of where their own ship was still tethered. When the pirates ship was tied fast, they stepped onto the  _ Wani _ 's deck, the Avatar with his sky bison followed shortly.

The Water Tribe girl still had yet to wake up. He remembered Maedhros had knocked her out when they found her by the boat, but Zuko had assumed she would be awake by now. Awake and probably yelling at everyone about how they were terrible and demanding her necklace back. Zuko still had it tied around his wrist, it clashed with his clothes, but he hadn't been able to give it back yet. He didn't even want the stupid necklace, he was only using it as a bargaining chip.

Maybe one of Fingon's songs could wake her up. Zuko walked over to them, the girl's brother was carrying her, and glaring at Zuko like he was the reason the Water Tribe girl wasn't awake. In fact, the Avatar seemed to be the only one actually happy about being here.

"We have supplies so we can care for your sister," Zuko offered.

For some reason, the Water Tribe peasant managed to look offended at his offer. Zuko was just trying to help! "If our medicine isn't good enough for your low peasant standards then I suppose I'll leave you to hope your sister will wake," Zuko snarled, it was a little harsher than needed. But the boy didn't need to act like anything Zuko offered was terrible.

The boy in question looked like he would have tried to punch Zuko if his hands had been free. Zuko had even managed to make the Avatar look upset with his comment. "I can look at the Lady Katara here on the deck if you fear her leaving your sight," Fingon said tactfully.

Sokka frowned. "Fine," he said, still glaring at Zuko.

"Zuko, please go get my harp. I believe I have left it in the medical room where we had treated Maedhros," Fingon said. Zuko recognized that he wasn't needed here, and ignored the sad pang that thought gave him. His comments hadn't helped, so it would be best if he left. For some reason, Maedhros followed him.

"Things tend to work out better when you don't call someone a peasant," Maedhros commented once they were out of earshot.

Zuko glared ahead of him. "I was just offering to help, he didn't need to look so offended at my offer," he grumbled.

Maedhros shrugged. "When we return, we'll be able to practice tact," he said.

Return? But Zuko was sure Fingon didn't want him there anymore. Maedhros looked over at him when he didn't say anything. His eyes glowed in the dim corridor, and Zuko thought about how different Maedhros and Fingon seemed. "Fingon sent you to get his harp so that we would not antagonize the group any further, not because he does not want you there," Maedhros said, a lot gentler than Zuko had seen him.

They reached the med room and Zuko grabbed Fingon's harp. They walked back in silence. Zuko was finding it hard to believe that when she returned he would not be immediately sent away. If Father sent him away, he normally wasn't wanted back until he had been gone for a couple hours and had found something Father would have wanted.

Fingon was kneeling over the Water Tribe girl, while her brother stood beside Fingon. The Avatar was flitting around nervously. Zuko handed the harp to Fingon while Sokka did his best to loom.

"What is a harp going to do?" Sokka asked.

Fingon shushed him and started gently playing. He sang along with it and soon the girl was waking up. She seemed a little groggy but leapt to her feet upon seeing Zuko.

She glanced around and bent some water around her. It was shaky and she obviously had no formal training, and Zuko wasn't that scared of it, but if they fought the Avatar would leave. "Katara wait!" the Avatar said.

Katara looked over at him and the water dropped onto the deck. "Aang?" she asked. "What are we doing here, this is Zuko's ship," she hissed quietly.

"We're joining then for music night!" The Avatar answered.

"Aang, we have to leave now," Katara said. "We're not staying for music night."

The Avatar pouted. He was literally pouting. Was this really the person he had been chasing? When Zuko first started his hunt he had been expecting to face a fully realized Avatar. Not a 12 year old kid. "Please Katara. I'm sure they won't attack us," he said with a quick glance at Zuko.

"Besides, we have Appa and can leave whenever we want," the Water Tribe boy answered. Katara crossed her arms and turned to face Zuko.

"We will stay for now, but the second you make a move to attack us we're leaving," she said haughtily. It was almost like dealing with a less dangerous, more emotional Azula.

Zuko nodded. He had the rest of the day to find a way to keep the Avatar from leaving. Injuring the sky bison would work, but Katara would blame him and he really didn't want to hurt the giant, fluffy animal.

They all stood there staring at each other awkwardly. Fingon stood up, and walked back to Maedhros, who was standing behind Zuko. "Uh," Water Tribe Boy said after a moment. "Shouldn't we figure out what to do with the pirate ship," he said.

Right, they still had that. "We could drop it off at the harbor?" Aang offered.

The pirates would be waiting for that, and they would just continue to steal from people. Not to mention that they will probably attack Zuko at first sight. He would prefer to keep them from getting out onto the sea for as long as he could. "If we return the ship, the pirates will just continue to steal from people," Katara said.

"Well we can't take it with us," Aang said.

The Water Tribe Boy gestured over to Zuko. "We could burn it, we have some firebenders right there," he said. At the mention of burning the boat Maedhros made a weird choking noise. He turned to look up at the red haired man.

"I would think firebenders would refuse. They're basically pirates," Katara said. Why was she so angry, Zuko really hadn't done that much against her. Sure he crashed into the village, but that was somewhat on accident. It would look cooler than stopping and walking across ice to get there, and it proves their sad little wall couldn't stop him.

"We don't steal from people!" Zuko said. The Fire Nation was more honorable than that.

"Right, you're just a nation of murderers," Katara said.

"Katara we don't know that, and don't you think you're being a little rude?" The Avatar asked her.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, someone who travels with kinslayers is a good person," she said.

Wait. What in the world was she talking about? Zuko vaguely recognized the term, they had talked about a kinslayer in school. He hadn't really been paying that much attention. It was something bad, he was sure of that. Although no one on his crew was a cold blooded murder.

She could be talking about Maedhros and Fingon, Zuko realized. He would talk to them when they weren't around the enemy. Katara was obviously trying to get under his skin and make them start arguing. "Guys, remember the boat?" Water Tribe Boy said.

"Aren't we burning it?" Katara asked. 

The Avatar looked at Zuko. "Would you be okay with burning it? After we make sure there aren't any other waterbending scrolls," he added. Zuko sighed, but nodded. The Avatar jumped into the pirate ship and disappeared down into the hold. Sokka and Katara followed the Avatar down.

______________________

  
  


First had come stealing the boat and now they were going to burn it. Today was not Maedhros' day. He glared at the ship. Maedhros continued to glare even when the group returned, carrying more scrolls. He might be interested in reading those later, if he ever learned the new writing system.

They untied the boat and pushed it away from Zuko's ship. They sailed away a shirt distance before Zuko turned and shot a fire blast at it. It didn't take long until the ship was encased in roaring flame.

The fire reflected on the water reminded Maedhros of Losgar. He quickly looked around and made sure everyone was on the deck. No one had remained on the pirate ship. No one was burning. He watched the flames as they danced happily on the burning wood. Maedhros' eyes didn't leave until the boat had burned down to the water and it slipped out of view.

"Nelyo, would you like some tea?" Fingon murmured.

Maedhros dragged himself away from memories of other ships burning and nodded. He followed Fingon over to where Iroh had made tea, mostly everyone had a cup. Fingon handed one to Maedhros before taking a cup for himself.

The scrolls from the pirate ship were laid out on the deck. Sokka was pouring over them, an abandoned cup of tea next to him. Katara, his sister, was glaring at the tea. Seeing as mostly everyone was sitting down, Maedhros joined them on the floor. He dragged one of the scrolls over to him. Maedhros didn't know what was written over it, but it did have some illustrations.

The drawings on the scroll were in a different form than what Maedhros was accustomed to seeing. He could see a beach with some strange figure walking along the edge of the water. Maedhros looked up from the scroll to ask someone what it said. Sokka was the closest to him.

"May you tell me what his scroll says?" he asked.

Katara scoffed, "You don't know how to read?" she said in disbelief. Maedhrod wasn't going to answer and get into a fight. With the accumulated stress of stealing and burning a boat, Maedhros didn't know what he might do if he lost his temper now.

"Um, it's a spirit tale," Sokka said. "About some beach wandering spirit."

A beach wandering spirit. Fingon told Maedhros that a lot of people thought they were spirits. It must be the fact that elves hadn't been seen for a long time. Maybe this spirit could be Maglor. Maedhros cut off that train of thought, Maglor could have faded by now, and be wouldn't be careless enough to be seen enough times to become a myth.

"I learned about that!" Aang said as he pranced over from where he had been sitting with the sky bison. "The spirit wanders by the shore. If you're lucky enough it might help you out. Apparently it likes children more than adults," he recounted, "that's all I know. We never really learned that much about it."

"Does the spirit sing?" Fingon asked.

Aang shrugged, "I don't think so. Although that song you sang earlier was really cool!" Fingon smiles and they started talking together. Maedhros sipped at his tea and looked at the scrolls. He let the conversation wash over him as he looked at the pictures. It was a little frustrating to jot know what was written down, but Maedhros wasn't sure he would be able to focus on reading right now. Clearly, watching a ship burn after stealing it and done nothing good for him.

"Maedhros, it's your turn," he heard.

"What?" he asked.

"To tell a story!" Aang answered him. Because Maedhros would have a good story for kids to hear.

He shook his head, "I'll pass."

"How can you expect us to trust you when you won't tell us a harmless story?" Katara accused. Maedhros was sure she wasn't this offensive on Kyoshi.

"Katara, he doesn't need to tell you a story," Fingon said.

Katara huffed. "Can we have one? I already told a lot when we were in the Spirit World together," Sokka said. Aang and Katara voiced their agreements. Fingon was doing his best to calm them down and move on to the next person. Maedhros tapped him and shook his head, if they wanted a story he would give them one.

"Very well, I'll tell you one," he said. What stories did he have that wouldn't traumatize himself or anyone listening. It said a lot about his life that he couldn't really think of any. The memories of Losgar were clear in his head. He would just need to hold himself together until the end of the story, then he would leave.

"There was once two brothers. They were travelling with their families to a new home, except the eldest did not trust the younger. They had only enough boats for one family to travel at a time. The elder brother stole the boats and travelled with his family to the new world," Maedhros said. "The brother's first born son offered to sail the ships back, except the elder brother had no intention of sending the ships back."

"They set them on fire, the eldest refused and the youngest burned," Maedhros said. He could almost feel the heat from the fire and the screams of Amras. If he had been closer, if he had made sure all his brothers were there Amras may have lived.

Maedhros stood up and turned away from the group. He wasn't going to cry, he hadn't since the Nirnaeth, but he didn't want to be around anyone. Maedhros took careful, measured steps as he walked away, he heard Fingon following from behind him but no one else dared to follow.

______________________

  
  


Everyone was silent as Maedhros and Fingon left, Sokka wasn't expecting that. It was very short, and vague on the details. Sokka was kind of glad Maedhros hadn't gone into great detail. Although it helped explain his reaction to them burning the pirate ship.

"So, are there going to be food at music night?" Aang asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Zuko nodded. "Yeah, we generally have food," he said.

"Great. Now we can all be poisoned by the Fire Nation," Katara said.

"What did we do to you to make you so angry at everyone from the Fire Nation?" Zuko yelled at Katara. Sokka rolled up the scrolls and moved them away from the angry benders.

"The Fire Nation took all of our waterbenders! Your people killed my mother," Katara said angrily.

"So? I didn't do that. Maedhros and Fingon didn't do that either," Zuko said. Sokka had to admit that the prince was right. It wasn't Zuko who had ordered the waterbenders to be taken. He didn't kill their mother, either.

Katara gestured wildly with her arms. Sokka eyed the water nervously as it responded to her anger. "You stole my necklace!" she decided on saying. Of all things, thay wouldn't have been the option Sokka would have said.

"I found it on the ground," Zuko said. Katara didn't have anything to say to that and they just glared at each other. Zuko was looking much scarier than Katara was with his glare. The scar probably helped.

Aang hopped between them before someone started fighting. Sokka loved Katara, but at this point he didn't think she would win a one on one match against Zuko. "Can we please stop fighting?" he asked.

Katara took a breath and shot a glare at Zuko one last time. Sokka assumed Zukor relaxed, although the prince always seemed really tense. "Thank you," Aang said with a bright smile.

"I'm going to my room, don't break anything," Zuko said before leaving them. His uncle had left a little into when they started telling stories. Sokka didn't know why he had left, but now it was just him, Katara, and Aang left in the deck. This was going to be a long wait.

They spent a lot of time cleaning Appa. After doing nothing for what felt like hours, they decided Appa could use a good makeover. It took a while, and they finally finished once people started setting up for music night. No one was wearing the full armor Sokkad had been expecting. It made him feel a little better knowing that he could see the people's faces. Zuko came back out, and so did Maedhros and Fingon. Fingon was holding his harp and Maedhros was looking more aware of his surroundings.

As soon as the instruments were brought out Aang ran towards the tsungi horn. "Zuko, you should use your own horn," the uncle said as he watched Aang hold the horn. Sokka snickered to himself, the prince of the Fire Nation knew how to play the tsungi horn.

Sokka started when he was handed a pair of drums. "Uh, I don't really play anything," he said to the nearest person. It happened to be Aang.

"Then this is a great time to learn!" Aang said as he sat down on one of the chairs and blasted out a loud note. Sokka couldn't find anyone to pass his drums off to and ended up in the middle of the mess of sounds that served as music night.

At some point, Zuko's crew brought out food and tables. It smelled delicious and he could see meat on the table. Aang wouldn't eat meat and kept finding ways to accidentally lose anything that Sokka caught. Then Katara said it was too expensive to keep buying meat. He set his drums down and made his way to the table.

Sokka piled a plate he had grabbed full of food. He bit into the first thing on his plate and nearly spit it out. Fire Nation food was so spicy. It felt like Sokka's tongue was burning. He frowned and looked down at his plate. Was everything super spicy?

"The rice isn't as spicy as everything else is," Sokka heard Maedhros say. He kind of sounded like he had been crying or screaming recently.

Knowing that there was food that wouldn't make Sokka lose feeling in his tongue he grabbed at the rice. It would have been better if it was meat, but he might be able to work his way up to the meat after eating some of the rice. The rice burned. Not as bad as the meat, but it still hurt. "I thought you said it wasn't spicy!" Sokka exclaimed.

"I said it wasn't as spicy," Maedhros corrected.

Sokka set the plate down and stared balefully at the rest of the table. "I thought there might have been good in the Fire Nation, but after there horrible food there's no hope left," he said. Maedhros chuckled. Sokka internally high fives himself, the joke had been a success. "Are you going to play anything?" he asked.

Maedhros nodded. "When Fingon decides he's had enough of listening to that racket," he said with a faint smile. The sounds of music night weren't what Sokka would call good music. There was some obvious melodies, so it could be music, but mostly it was just noise.

He studied Maedhros a bit. He had changed into clean clothes and the scrapes from the fight with the spider seemed to be gone. "You feeling better?" he asked. It had only been a couple days since the incident in he Spirit World and the red haired man hadn't had the best reaction to telling a simple story.

"For a given definition," Maedhros said.

Sokka nodded. "That's good," he said. They looked out to the empty ocean. Sokka fidgeted a bit awkwardly. He never knew what to do when you talk about feelings. That was more of a girly thing anyways.

The music behind them came to silence and someone started clapping. Sokka turned back towards the group and saw people applauding and smiling. Maybe the Fire Nation wasn't completely full of horrible people. Just the chefs who made ridiculously spicy food.

Fingon danced over to them and grabbed Maedhros' arm. He looked much happier and excited then he had earlier. "We need to play something," he said. "Stop being so boring like you were when you went to Himring."

There was a slight flush to Fingon's cheeks and Maedhros squinted down at him. "Were you drinking?" he asked. Sokka looked back to the group and noticed that there were, in fact, some bottles. Thankfully, it looked like neither Aang or Katara had had. Zuko didn't get a drink either judging by the extremely grumpy expression on his face. "Maybe a but but that's not the point, the  _ point _ is that you need to make up for never coming to visit," Fingon said.

"I was making sure Beleriand wasn't overrun with orcs," Maedhros said as he allowed Fingon to drag him towards the instruments. Sokka followed behind them, snickering. This was hilarious, he almost wished they were staying longer so he could watch this wreck.

Fingon flapped his hand in the air. He sat down in a chair and grabbed his harp. He plucked a couple notes and started singing.

It was much nicer than the discordant noise that had previously consisted of music night. The music didn't have the same amount of power he had felt from when Fingon had sung Katara awake, but still felt like there was something more than just music. Sokka felt like he could listen to Fingon forever and never get tired.

When Maedhros joined in Sokka was a little stunned. While Fingon sounded more upbeat, despite carrying an undercurrent of mourning, Maedhros' song sounded like loss.

The music felt both long and short and by the time it was over Sokka felt exhausted. He would give almost anything to take a nap instead of getting on Appa and flying away. Knowing his sister, Sokka knew she was going to make them leave whether they wanted to or not. She really didn't like the Fire Nation, or Maedhros. How she could stay angry at Fingon Sokka didn't know. Fingon kind of reminded him of Aang. Slightly.

For a moment, everyone sat in the silence that followed Fingon and Maedhros' song. "It is late and everyone needs to sleep now. Even my son, cause he sleeps as well as Nelyo," Fingon declared as he looked around.

What son? Apparently, a couple other people had the same thought and voiced the question out loud. Fingon pointed in Zuko's general direction. "I'm adopting him," he said.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Maedhros picked Fingon up and smiled at the group. "Sorry about that, normally he doesn't act like this," he said before walking away as fast as he could.

"What," Sokka said. Thankfully, Zuko looked as stunned as he did. "I thought you weren't adopted," he said.

"I'm not!" Zuko yelled at him. "I have parents and they love me," he added angrily. Sokka wasn't sure the Fire Lord was capable of love, but he wasn't going to say that to Zuko's face.

"I'm not saying they don't, but Fingon said he adopted you."

Zuko's face reddened and he clenched his fists. "Fingon's  _ not _ my dad," he said.

Around them, the crew of Zuko's ship were cleaning up the mess from music night. They were cleaning really fast. Much faster than it would have taken Sokka to clean up his small corner of an igloo tent creation. "Why not? Fingon seems like a nice guy!" Aang said cheerfully.

Sokka wasn't sure Aang really knew what he was talking about, he was raised by monks after all. Sokka didn't know much about the Air Nomads, but maybe it was a tradition to choose your family?

"That's not how it works!" Zuko shouted. He really has a fiery temper, Sokka thought

Aang just shrugged and smiled in response. "Anyways, will you be having another music night anytime soon?" he asked.

"Aang, we're not coming back. We're leaving them and hopefully they will stop following and attacking us," Katara said with a glare at Zuko and his uncle.

"Oh, but I really liked it and I would love to visit then again," Aang said with a pout. This was how the Fire Nation was going to capture them. Because Aang wanted to go to music night and Katara wouldn't say no. Sokka wasn't that against visiting them again. Unless Zuko burned down another village, then there would be no chance for another harmless music night.

Katara folded her arms and looked at the two firebenders. "When is you're next music night?" she asked.

"In two weeks," Zuko's uncle said with a smile. "We would be very honored to host you again."

Zuko didn't look like he was that happy about it but didn't contradict the old man. "Great! We'll see you then!" Aang said as he jumped into Appa. Katara turned sticky on her heel and c a climbed onto the saddle with as much dignity and grace as you could when scrambling up the side of a supposedly extinct flying creature.

Sokka waved to them as he climbed up next to Katara. He looked neither graceful or dignified as he did it. Zuko looked like he wanted to stop and Sokka remembered he had been meaning to find out why they were being chased.

"Bye!" Aang said happily. "Yip yip, Appa," he said. The sky bison groaned and stood up, launching himself into the sky.

______________________

  
  


Maglor had been travelling inland. He had heard the Avatar was heading north, and it was easier to not be seen when you were walking in trees and grass, not an empty beach. Maglor was enjoying the change in scenery.

There were large trees with red and orange leaves standing at the edge of a small town. Maglor was in the small marketplace doing his best to buy supplies and not stand out at much.

Thankfully, he had some clothes that mostly blended in, and has a couple coins on him. His ears and sword were hidden in the cloak he was wearing so he shouldn't cause any panic.

Maglor bought a couple strips of some dried meat and looked at the amount of money he had left. There was one coin. He would need to find a way to get more money if he didn't want to have to resort to stealing.

As he slipped the food into his bag he looked at his harp. He might be able to get some money by playing somewhere. Maybe even just on the side of the road. It would bring him more attention than he wanted, but Maglor needed the money.

He walked out of the town and into the forest. He didn't have enough money to afford to stay in an inn, and there might be fruits of some kind deeper into the forest. After some time making more money and stocking up on food Maglor would continue north. He needed to find the Avatar and warn him before Morgoth and Sauron gained enough power to take over Middle Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why is Fingon drunk, I dont know.
> 
> But Maglor showed up, so that's got to count for something.
> 
> And Maedhros isn't having the best of time...
> 
> But other than that we got interaction with the gaang that didn't end horribly!
> 
> For anyone interested I now have a very new tumblr where I will be posting updates on the story and showing I'm still alive when it takes a while.
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/enter-witty-remark
> 
> (I don't know if that worked)


	9. A Wild Elf Appears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long! I had to take a break from Ao3 after realizing I was spending a very unhealthy amount of time on it.
> 
> This chapter is a lot shorter because it wasn't wanting to be written and I've been trying write it for about a week.

Zuko woke up to a perfectly normal morning. There was no Avatar and no people proclaiming him their adopted son. He got out of bed and walked to the mirror, tying his hair up.

He lit some of the candles and did his best to meditate. It might have gone better if he had not been thinking about what had happened the previous night. He was a terrible son, why would Fingon even want him. He had disrespected his actual father and it was a surprise that he had been given a chance to return home.

Zuko blew out the candles and sighed. He was going to have to ask Fingon about it. And he would need to ask about the kinslaying thing the girl had said. He pushed open the door and walked out onto the deck. No one was out except Uncle, who was setting up a game of pai sho.

"Where's Fingon and Maedhros?" Zuko asked.

"They have not yet joined us," Uncle said. "Perhaps you would like to have some tea with me while we wait?" The tea set was also out. Zuko looked at it and nodded grudgingly. Uncle smiled and poured cups of tea for both of them. Zuko sipped at the flavoured water. Tea would never be his favorite drink, but Uncle did make good tea.

"Uncle?" he asked after a couple moments of silence. "Why did the Water Tribe girl accuse us of working with kinslayers?"

Zuko watched as Uncle's face pinched. "I do not fully know," he said carefully. "I suggest asking Fingon and Maedhros when they join us."

They sat in silence as they finished their tea. Finally, Maedhros and Fingon appeared on the deck. Fingon was rubbing his eyes thirdly as Maedhros grinned next to him. "I'm sorry for what happened last night, I haven't talked to you about anything that I had said," Fingon said.

Right, the adopted son thing. "Uh, apology accepted," Zuko said. "Actually, I want to know why the Water Tribe girl said you were kinslayers."

Both Maedhros and Fingon's faces dropped. "It's a long story, but I suppose it would be better if we are to tell you," Maedhros said and the two men sat down. "Should you want us to leave after our tale we will not bother you any longer."

That didn't sound good. It was almost as though Maedhros was expecting Zuko to hate them after he learned what the kinslayer comment was.

"First, Maedhros and I are not of the race of men," Fingon said. Zuko stated at them. This was sounding like some far fetched spirit tale. "We are elves. The firstborn. Fairest of all the children of Eru, we are bound to the world until the end. Never to taste death and pass beyond."

Fingon and Maedhros were saying they were immortal, Zuko realized. Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard to believe. It did help to explain their strangeness. "But what does this have to do with the kinslaying thing?" he asked.

Fingon folded his hands on his lap. "We'll get there. Many of the first of the elves journeyed to Valinor to dwell. There was only one soul on that land who had passed to the Halls of Mandos," he said.

"My grandmother, Miriel," Maedhros said. "After the birth of my father she fell into a deep sleep and passed away. Never has she been reborn from the halls." So they could die? Zuko voiced his question outloud.

"Through battle, yes. We can also fade away," Fingon answered. "Old age and sickness will not touch us. Now, after the passing of Miriel, our grandfather, Finwë, married Indis and had ny father, Fingolfin. That caused a rift in the family, Fëanor saw it as Finwë replacing Miriel and didn't take that well."

Maedhros took over the story. "My father was the greatest craftsman to ever come from the children of Eru. His greatest creations were the silmarils, hallowed jems filled with the light of the two trees. They were stolen by Morgoth, who killed our grandfather."

Zuko listened as Maedhros and Fingon told about the Oath, the first kinslaying, the boats burning and the Helcaraxe until he finally stopped them. He didn't know what to do. There was much more to the two elves than he had thought. Zuko knew they had killed people but hearing about the murder of defenseless victims and their own family. "I need to think," he said and ran to his room. They killed innocent people, but they were always so kind to him. Zuko needed Uncle's advice, he had no idea what to do.

______________________

  
  


Sokka was sitting in a tree with Jet. He wouldn't say he was that fond of fhr guy, but he was a leader. Jet was also making a pretty good ally, he was fighting the fire nation without putting an innocent village in danger. There was the fact that the group of kids were in danger, but it was war.

Jet was communicating with some of the older kids who had gone along with them for the patrol. Getting an idea, Sokka pulled out his knife and dug it into the tree. "What are you doing?" Jet asked.

Sokka shushed him, "It amplifies vibrations." Using this he should be able to hear anyone coming through the forest. He out his ear to the handle of the knife and listened. "Nothing yet...wait, someone's coming," Sokka said.

"How many?" Jet asked him in a quiet whisper.

"Just one, I think," Sokka responded.

Jet whistled out another call and tightened his grip on his swords. "Great work, Sokka, ready your weapons," he ordered. Sokka pulled his knife out of the tree and looked down at the path. The person came into view, it was just a traveller wearing an old cloak and carrying around a smallish bag.

"False alarm, it's not a soldier," Sokka whispered.

Jet ignored Sokka. He was going to attack a harmless citizen! He bumped down from the tree and Sokka scrambled after him. It wasn't the citizens that were killing people, it was the soldiers and the Fire Lord. "What are you doing in our woods, you leech?" Jet asked as he pointed the hooked swords at the man.

"Walking," the man said. He was tall, and looked kind of like Maedhros. Sokka's eyes widened, if this man was anything like the two with Zuko Jet wouldn't stand a chance if he attacked. Jet growled and took a step forward, obviously upset.

"What are you doing here, and I want a straight answer!" Jet yelled.

"I am travelling north," the man answered calmly. "This forest is along the path I have chosen. I would prefer if you and your bandits let me go in peace."

Jet was getting really upset, Sokka noticed. He pointed at the bag the man was bolding and whistled. One of his Freedom Fighters ran and tore the bag away from the man, dumping the contents on the ground.

A couple pieces of clothing, some coins, food, and a harp fell to the ground. "What the heck, Jet," Sokka said. There was no reason to dump this person's belongings onto the ground. He moved to help, but was stopped by Jet.

Sokka shot a glare at the taller teen, except Jet didn't notice. "This can't be everything you have. Where's the rest of your weapons, Fire Nation scum," Jet hissed.

The man was managing to stay surprisingly calm. "That is all I own, and I am not a citizen of the Fire Nation."

"You're lying!" Jet yelled.

Sokka moved in front of Jet. "Jet think logically! He doesn't even have Fire Nation eyes! Give him back his stuff and let him go on his way," he said. He would need to tell a

Katara and Aang about this so that he could finally get them to leave.

Thankfully, he seemed to have gotten to Jet. Jet lowered his swords and nodded. "My apologies, we'll let you go if you answer one question honestly," he said.

The man nodded. "I'll answer to the best of my abilities."

"Why are you heading North?" Jet asked.

"I have heard the Avatar is going to the Northern Water Tribe. I come with warnings,” the man said. If this man had a warning of some sort Aang would need to hear it.

“I know the Avatar,” Sokka said without thinking. He internally winced, he didn’t know anything about this man other than the fact that he looked like Maedhros. Hopefully this man wasn’t trying to get to the Avatar to take him to Zuko. Jet glared at Sokka, but he ignored it. “I can take you to Aang,” Sokka offered.

Jet grabbed his arm and whirled him around to face away from the man. “You can’t just lead him to my hideout, he could show others the way,” he hissed.

“Then blindfold him or something. If he has a warning Aang needs to hear it,” Sokka argued back.

Jet scowled. "Fine," he said. Turning to the man he continued. "We'll take you to the Avatar, only it you're blindfolded and never tell anyone about the hideout."

The man nodded allowing Jet to blindfold him. They led the man to the Freedom Fighter's hideout. Only when they had reached one of the platforms was when Jet allowed the blindfold off.

"Who's this?" Aang asked from behind Sokka. Sokka jumped up a bit, he didn't know Aang was right there.

"Kano," the man said.

Aang beamed at him. "Nice to meet you Kano! I'm Aang!"

Kano stared down at him. "You're the Avatar?" he asked.

"Yep!" Aang said.

"You're much younger than the others have been," Kano said quietly. "I have a small warning I need I give you."

"Oh, what is it," Aang asked.

Kano hesitated. "I've felt an ancient power awaken, older than myself," he began. "Something has returned to Middle Earth, and I fear a great evil has returned."

That sounded really bad. First they had to deal with the Fire Prince started trying to hunt them down, then he found some shiny new friends who were actually pretty nice, and now another strange man shows up saying some evil had returned. "What evil?" Sokka asked.

"Something I have fought agaisnt before, and failed even with the night of my Father's house behind me. The Avatar is the only chance we have at defeating it, for I doubt the Valar would come to my aid," Kano said.

"If you've fought against it before can you stay and help us?" Aang asked, a little desperately. Sokka didn't blame him, suddenly it was starting to feel much more serious than stop the Fire Nation from taking over the Earth Kingdom.

Kano looked stunned. "You want me?" he asked, clearly confused.

Aang nodded. "You've fought against him before! You can tell me what to expect and help us fight him!"

"I'd be honored," Kano said. Now all that was left was to tell Katara and hope Kano didn't end up being some sort of spy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise updates will get along on the same pace as they have in the past, but I will be making an Effort!


	10. The Dam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ACTUALLY POSTED THIS 0N TIME!!
> 
> I'm starting to try and get back into a routine on this, so I might move posting to every other week.

"Your story is much longer than what my nephew has heard, isn't it," Iroh said.

Maedhros nodded, "yes."

"It doesn't get better, does it?" Iroh said.

Maedhros and Fingon looked down to the deck. "No, the Doom it...made things very difficult," Fingon said.

Maedhros huffed. "It wasn't just the Doom, the Oath caused more bloodshed than anything else except the Enemy himself," he said bitterly.

Iroh hummed. He knew there was more to the two beings who had come aboard the  _ Wani _ . They weren't human, and there was the ancient aura surrounding them. They had proved to be helpful, and had soke power in them. Iroh would have called them spirits, but whatever an elf was is older than the spirits Iroh had seen after Lu Ten's death. "If my nephew decides you sre to stay eith us, I need your word that you will do him no harm," Iroh said coolly. It was Zuko's decision if they stayed, but Iroh wasn't going to let anything happen to him.

"I give you my word I will seek no harm to Zuko," Maedhros said. Fingon nodded and repeated the words.

Iroh had questions he wanted to ask the two elves, but he would have to wait until Zukor returned with his decision. "I'm going to talk to my nephew," he told Maedhros and Fingon. "Perhaps it would be better if you stay here while we talk." If Zuko decided he didn't want them around, it would stop the panic of having to find where they had went and what they were doing.

He walked to Zuko's room and knocked on the door. "Zuko? I want to speak with you," he said.

______________________

  
  
  


"Katara!" Aang exclaimed as he dropped in front of her.

Katara smiled at him. "You'd never believe who Sokka and I just met! His name is Kano and he's super nice and offered to help us!" Aang continued, grabbing her hand and dragging her through the Freedom Fighter's hideout. "He looks a little like Maedhros and has a cool harp but he's not Fire Nation."

Wait, another of the strange spy people had shown up and they were just going to trust him immediately? "Aang are we sure we can trust him? He might be a spy from Zuko's ship," Katara said.

"But he's not! We saw the entire crew and Kano wasn't there," Aang assured her. "Just meet him, we may end up needing him." Aang looked a little worried and scared, but quickly smiled brightly and continued walking. Katara wondered what had caused Aang to look like that. What had Kano done?

They walked onto one of the open pavilions and saw Sokka standing awkwardly next to a lean man with long black hair holding an old harp. He looked up at them and Katara saw what Aang had meant when he said Kano looked like Maedhros.

"You must be Kano," Katara said.

Kano nodded, "I am."

"He's here to help us, Katara," Sokka said.

"How? Is Kano a bending master? Can he teach Aang waterbending?" Katara asked. If kano could waterbed they would be able to learn from him while they travelled North.

"Uh," Sokka said and turned to Kano. "Are you a bending master?" He asked.

"No," Kano said. If he couldn't teach them anything than how could Kano help them.

"Then how is he going to help us?" Katara demanded. "We need to help Aang become the Avatar so we can end the war."

Aang fidgeted uncomfortably. "Actually, Kano came to tell me about some enemy that's returned and only I am strong enough to fight it, and he's going to help me prepare," he said. There was someone other than the Fire Lord Aang was going to have to fight. Katara looked back at Kano, if he was right they would need his help. If he was wrong, well, learning something new never really hurt anyone, right?

"What is this other person Aang has to fight?" Katara asked.

"I believe Morgoth and Sauron have found a way to return," Kano said. "The Avatar is the only chance this world has."

"But who are these people?" Sokka asked.

Kano traced a finger along his harp. "Cruel and Dark creatures. If they are not stopped the world will fall into darkness," he looked up. "Death would be a kinder fate than that which you would suffer should they succeed.

There was a moment of silence as everyone thought this over. Kano sounded sincere enough when he was talking, and if he had offered to help Aang he might know how they fight the new enemies they were finding themselves against. Aang really did need to get to the North Pole and learn waterbending. They would have to help Jet quickly and then leave. Katara had been hoping they might be able to stay for a while, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

"I think we should leave now," Sokka said. "Aang needs to learn waterbending as soon as he can, so we should leave as soon as we can."

"But Jet needs our help!" Katara exclaimed.

Sokka scowled. "Jet is one of the reasons we should leave now," he said angrily.

Katara crossed her arms. He had been upset about Jet ever since they had met him. She thought he was so brave, fighting the Fire Nation and working to protect all the people in the poor village. "Jet's fighting the Fire Nation! Just like Dad," she said.

"Jet's crazy and out of control. I met Kano because Jet  _ attacked  _ him," Sokka said.

"Jet wouldn't do that!" Katara said. He seemed so nice, surely he wouldn't have attacked Kano. Kano didn't even look dangerous. He just looked sad and tired.

"He did! You can ask Kano yourself," Sokka said, gesturing to the man in question.

"Jet did pull a sword on me and have my belongings taken away," Kano said. Jet wouldn't do that, would he? Maybe Kano was just lying. Except why would he lie about Jet attacking him. If it was true it would just make them leave sooner so they get to the North Pole faster.

Sokka walked closer to Katara. "Jet did attack Kano, probably would have done worse if I hadn't stopped him. We need to leave now," he said gently. Katara looked down at the ground. She didn't just want to leave so suddenly, without doing anything to help the people here. Jet had told her that the Fire Nation Nation going to burn the forest, all that smoke would be terrible for the townsfolk.

"What's going on in here?" Jet asked as he came upon the small group.

______________________

  
  


Uncle opened the door and stepped into Zuko's small room. "Uncle what should I do?" he asked. Uncle always knew how to react to things like this. Zuko didn't know if he should send Maedhros and Fingon away, or keep them with him.

Uncle sat down at the chair sitting by the small desk. "Zuko, I can't make this decision for you," he said.

Zuko sighed a little angrily, Uncle always made better decisions than Zuko to begin with. All Zuko had managed to do was mess up. His own Father told him about how much of a failure he was. The only people close to him who didn't think of him as a complete waste of time was Uncle, and Maedhros and Fingon. Fingon had called Zuko his  _ son _ .

Zuko sat down at his bed and stared at the floor. The slight chance that he might be able to have someone who wouldn't leave him and actually seemed to love him was tempting. But there was the fact they had killed innocent people. Not soldiers, people who were asking them to stop. People who weren't supposed to die.

"Will you help me Uncle?" Zuko asked, raising his head and looking at Uncle.

Uncle smiled and nodded. "That is why I came to see you," he said. "I won't make this choice for you, but I will do my best to help."

It looked like that was the closest thing to Uncle helping Zuko was going to get. Besides, when he actually took the time to talk to Uncle about making a decision it turned out better than if he had done it himself. "They've been so nice to me," he said. Being honest, Zuko didn't really want them to leave.

"If you didn't know about what they had done you wouldn't ask them to leave," Uncle said.

Zuko nodded, "Why would I have asked them to leave? They've helped me so far with my mission to capture the Avatar." Fingon helped him get Uncle back, and Maedhros had helped him interrogate the Water Tribe girl and deal with the Kyoshi Warriors.

Uncle nodded, but had yet to say anything. "But what if they kill more people, like how they told us they did the Teleri," the word felt strange, but Zuko didn't think he had messed the pronunciation up that badly. He would have to trust the two elves (that was another strange thought that he didn't know how to react to) if he was going to keep them around. But how would he know they weren't going to leave if they somehow came across one of those silmaril things.

"You can always ask them to leave, but it will be much harder asking them to come back," Uncle said.

"So, I should keep them around?" Zuko asked.

"It is your choice, but I would suggest asking about their intentions and why they decided to help you. It may make your decision easier," Uncle said.

Zuko knew he would need to talk to Maedhros and Fingon. He was just a little scared at what other things they had done. Maedhros said that when the stole the boats that had been the First Kinslaying, which meant there were more. Zuko didn't know if it was better to know what happened at the other kinslayings or not.

Although, he might be able to get them to explain why Zuko hadn't found any signs of what cities they must have built or any records of them. "Will you come with me?" he asked Uncle.

Uncle nodded and together they walked back to the deck. Maedhros and Fingon were sitting in the same place Zuko had left them. A couple if the crewmen were milling around, some watching the two elves and others doing their best to ignore them.

"Why are you here?" Zuko asked them bluntly.

"The Valar sent us to find my brother," Maedhros answered. "He has been wandering since the end of the First Age and it was decided he has suffered enough."

That wasn't what Zuko had been expecting. "Where's the rest of your family?" he asked.

"Valinor, or still in the Halls," Maedhos answered. "Most of them have been reborn by now." 

The Halls were where the spirits of dead elves went, Zuko remembered. They had explained that when they were talking about what had happened at Alqualondë. It sounded like most of his family had ended up dying sometime between where Zuko had made them stop to now. He really needed to know the rest of their story, Zuko realized. He didn't really want to hear about what other things they had done. "Can you tell me the rest of you story?" he asked.

Fingon nodded. "My father died in an ambush, he made us swear the Oath again before passing to the Halls. After Morgoth found this out he sent a messenger, offering to give up on of the silmarils. I knew it was going to be a trap, but I still went with the hope we might overpower Morgoth and regain all three silmarils," Maedhros said. "I was captured and hung upon Thangorodrim by my right hand for thirty years."

"We saw the rising of the moon as we crossed the ice, and the sun rose for the first time as soon as we reached Middle Earth," Fingon said. That was a fact a little harder to wrap his head around. Zuko wasn't sure he entirely believed that Fingon and Maedhros were older than the sun and moon. Or that Agni wasn't the original Sun Spirit.

He managed to not ask any questions until they finally got to the Nirnaeth. "You died?" Zuko burst out.

Fingon nodded. "Killed by Gothmog himself," he said, sounding a little proud. Zuko was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Fingon had died, was dead, either thought was confusing.

"After that battle there wasn't a possibility of defeating Morgoth, we had lost too many elves and Doriath lost their king and Melian's protection," Maedhros said, picking up the story. Fingon had mainly been explaining what had happened, with little chunks told by Maedhros. Maedhros and Fingon told Zuko of Túrin and what had happened to the silmaril that had been stolen.

"When Lúthien and Beren passed away their son Dior returned to Doriath with a silmaril. My brothers and I tried to get it back," he continued. "Our efforts ended in the Second Kinslaying, the silmaril escaped with Elwing, Dior's daughter, and my brothers Celegorm, Caranthir, and Curufin were killed."

Zuko listened as Maedhros explained how he and his two remaining brothers led the remnants of their people as they searched for a sign of the silmarils. Fingon broke in and explained the Fall of Gondolin. Zuko wasn't sure it could get any worse. It didn't sound like there were any cities left, and mostly everyone had been killed.

Then Maedhros told him about the Third Kinslaying. Zuko was shocked. They attacked the refugees from Doriath for some stupid rock. Some of his own men turned on them and all they got out of it were two small twins.

Maedhros sounded fond when he talked about raising the twins with Maglor. Zuko almost starting letting himself think it wouldn't end badly, they were quite obviously coming to the end of the story, and after they described the War of Wrath Zuko was sure Maedhros was going to go back to Valinor and stay there until he came back and found Zuko.

"We stole the silmarils, Maglor didn't want to but I convinced him to. I had feared what would happen had we surrendered ourselves to the Valar. They let us go unchallenged," Maedhros said. Zuko bit back the urge to shake Maedhros. It wasn't his place and this had already happened. Except it would have been so much easier if Maedhros had just listened to his brother. "They burned us, when we grabbed them. Burned us as they did Morgoth those many years ago. Maglor threw his to the sea. I threw myself into a chasm of fire, I had thought I would be sent to the darkness we had sworn ourselves too, but I was granted the mercy to come to the Halls," Maedhros finished.

Zuko stares at them. Both of them had died and yet they were sitting right in front of him. Even Uncle looked like he didn't know how to react to this. "You both died? Then why are you here?" he asked.

"Mandos sent us in the hope we might find healing outside of his halls, and to find Maglor," Fingon said. Zuko nodded slowly, that made sense from what he had heard of their story.

Zuko kicked his lips and looked at them. "Are you going to leave when you find Maglor?" he asked. Despite everything he had learned, Zuko didn't really want them to leave. And Fingon had called him son, doesn't that mean you're supposed to stay together? Zuko didn't want to voice his thoughts, but Fingon would be a kinder father than Ozai had ever been.

"Maglor would want to meet you," Maedhros said. "We will not leave you unless you wish us gone."

Zuko breathed out a sigh of relief. They didn't have to leave yet.

______________________

  
  


Maglor watched Jet as he joined them. They didn't trust each other, and Jet made that clear with the way he looked at Maglor. Maglor couldn't blame him that much. He wouldn't trust himself.

"We're leaving," Sokka announced.

Jet shifted his attention from Maglor. "Can you just stay long enough to fill the reservoir? We need it if the Fire Nation decides to go through with their plan and burn down the forest," he said, looking over at Katara.

"Of course we can stay long enough to fill up the reservoir," Katara said. Maglor caught the triumphant gleam in Jet's eye and narrowed his eyes. There was another reason Jet wanted that reservoir filled, and he doubted it was to put out a forest fire.

"The Fire Nation won't burn down the forest, they would risk their own supplies if they did that," Maglor said. He needed to stop Jet long enough to figure out what was actually happening.

Jet glared at Maglor. "How do we know we can trust you, you might be a spy sent from the Fire Nation," he said.

"He's not!" Sokka burst in. "He came here to help us. We need to leave and get Aang to the North Pole so he can learn Water Bending and end the war."

Maglor nodded. They needed to focus on Aang's training so he was ready to fight. Katara crossed her arms, "We're not leaving until this is done."

Jet smiled and grabbed Katara, leading her away while talking about what sort of great things they had done against the Fire Nation. Maglor watched them, he hoped that nothing bad would happen when the filled the reservoir, but he wasn't going to plan on it. Aang hovers nervously around him and Sokka, before flitting away to Katara and Jet.

Sokka angrily sits down next to Maglor. "I don't trust him," he said, glaring at the direction of Jet. "He's crazy! Why can't Katara see that?"

Maglor shrugged. He had never really understood why men did what they did. "Perhaps she thinks he's doing the right thing?" he asked.

"Then we need to show her how crazy Jet is!" Sokka said, standing up. "We just need to figure out the real reason he wants the reservoir filled."

Sokka and Maglor ended up following Jet around for the rest of the day. They didn't find anything that would explain the need of filling the reservoir. In fact, they didn't find anyone even thinking about the fact the Fire Nation was apperently thinking of burning down the forest.

Sokka flung himself down onto one of the beds and sighed angrily. "There's nothing!" he said.

Katara rolled her eyes. "You're just upset because Jet's better at fighting than you," she said.

"I am not!" Sokka said.

"Sure," Katara said, smiling. She yawned and lay down. "We have actual work we need to do tomorrow, goodnight."

Sokka huffed but also layed down. Within minutes everyone was asleep. Maglor sat watching them, hand drifting over his harp. He didn't want to start playing in case they woke up.

Maglor heard voices outside and frowned. No one should be awake at this time of night. Sokka woke ip as they passed the room and got out of bed. He crept to the door and gestured for Maglor to follow. Together, they followed Jet and two of the older kids.

They walked to the forest and finally saw what Jet was planning. Blasting jelly was being piled at the bottom of the dam, if the reservoir was filled the water would flood the village. Sokka gasped quietly and stepped back. Maglor saw movement coming from behind them and drew his sword and lunged behind Sokka, ready to defend him. He slipped to the side as the kid, Pipsqueak, tried to grab him. Kicking him away Maglor grabbed Sokka and started running back to the hideout. He heard shouts from behind them and the whistling of arrows.

They got back and up to Katara and Aang before Jet had a chance to catch up. "Katara we need to go now! Jet's planning to blow the dam once the reservoir is filled," Sokka said as he shook his sister awake.

"What?" Katara asked blearily, rubbing her eyes.

"Jet's planning to wipe out a village Katara!" Sokka said, dragging her out of bed.

Aang looked horrified. "We need to stop him!" he said, grabbing his staff.

Maglor sheathed his sword and grabbed his harp as Sokka explained what had happened. Aang pulled out a whistle and prepared to blow it when an arrow shot through the cloth walls and stuck in the wood above Aang's head.

Jet tore through the door, twin swords in hand. "What are you doing?" Katara asked.

"Fighting the Fire Nation! If we don't blow out the dam then we'll never get rid of their presence. Remember what they did to your mom! They'll continue doing that to kids unless we stop them," Jet said. "You're new friend Kano and Sokka want to stop us."

Aang pointed his staff at Jet. "You're going to kill the people in the town if you blow the dam!" He said.

"Katara, you know I'm right," Jet said. Katara narrowed her eyes.

"We're not going to let you kill innocent people. If you do that, you're no better than the Fire Nation," she said. Maglor could hear the betrayal in her voice. She must have really trusted Jet. Jet scowled, understanding that he wouldn't be able to turn her on any of her friends.

"Longshot! Go to the dam, if someone else follows you ignite the blasting jelly!" Jet called as he lunged for Aang. Aang dodged out of the way and sent a blast of wind, pushing Jet out of the room.

"Katara go with Kano and stop Longshot, me and Aang can take Jet," Sokka said, drawing out his machete. Katara nodded and together she and Maglor ran out of the room.

Jet scowled at them and yelled for Smellerbee to stop them. Maglor picked Katara up and jumped off the platform. She screamed with surprise as he jumped from branch to branch to the forest floor. "Run ahead, I'll catch up to you," he told her.

She nodded and started running along the path. Maglor tightened his grip on his harp and watched as the main group of Freedom Fighters came down from the trees. As they got closer he started singing.

Maglor sang them to a deep sleep, thankfully they weren't able to fight against the song long enough for him to worry about them waking up as he left. He sang a little longer to make sure before running off after Katara. Sokka and Aang would have to hold Jet off until they could return.

He reached Katara as Longshot finally came into view. One arrow was pointed at the pile of barrels at the bottom of the dam. He didn't say anything but the threat was obvious. "If he blows the dam can you stop the water?" Maglor asked Katara.

"I've never done any waterbending like that before," Katara said nervously.

"The people in that village need you to," Maglor said and she nodded, shifting her feet into a wider stance. Maglor put his harp down carefully and drew his sword. Longshot glanced back at the forest and Maglor ran to him.

Startled, Longshot directed the arrow towards Maglor. Maglor hid a smile, as long as the archer was focused on him he didn't have to worry about the dam just yet. He ducked the arrow and reached Longshot aiming to get the bow out of his hands.

Longshot stumbled back and drew a small pair of knives Maglor hadn't noticed. He danced around Maglor's blade and tried to attack. He wasn't as skilled with the knives as with his bow and Maglor managed to disarm him quickly. He threw the knives to the side and held Longshot at sword point.

Suddenly, he finds water sweeping past him to surround Longshot. The water then solidified, trapping the archer in ice. Maglor looked back and found Katara, still standing in her waterbending stance. He smiled at her and sheathed his sword and looked down at the dam. If they left now Jet would go through with his plan later. "We need to make sure they can't destroy the dam," he said.

"How are we going to do that?" Katara asked. Maglor studied the dam and the cliffs around it, before looking down at the village below them.

"If we get rid of the dam now they won't be able to flood the village later," he said, picking up his harp and dusting it off.

"Because the village will be flooded by us!" Katara said, upset.

Maglor shook his head. "With your waterbending, we'll be able to direct the water into the river and around the village," he said. Katara still looked hesitant, so Maglor explained his plan. He would sing crack in the dam, while keeping it together, and Katara would guide the water along it's natural path. They should then be able to keep the water from crashing down all at once onto the village.

Without sparing any time, Maglor began singing. Katara concentrated on the water and slowly their plan started to come together. Maglor hoped that Aang and Sokka would be able to overpower Jet. He could feel the stone of the dam wanting to fall apart as he slowly weakened parts of it and if he was to be distracted Maglor was sure the dam would burst.

Thankfully, it was Sokka and Aang who ran to join them, not Jet. "Aang, a little help," Katara gasped out as she moved.

Aang quickly slipped into position next to her and copied her moves. Sokka hovered for a bit around them. "I'll just, go get Appa," he said and ran off. When he returned with the flying bison, they had almost finished. With a couple more Maglor let the dam collapse. They looked down over the river. It was much wider than it had been, but the village was safe.

"That was stressful," Sokka remarked from his place on the bison. "We should probably go before everyone wakes up."

Katara and Aang climbed into the saddle. Maglor looked up at them, unsure if he was invited or not. Aang looked down at him, confused. "Are you coming, Kano?" he asked.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted me," Maglor admitted.

"Of course we do! You've helped as and we need you," Katara said. Maglor climbed onto the saddle next to them. He smiled at them, a little shyly. It had been so long since someone had actually wanted him around. Appa lifted off the ground and Maglor allowed himself a little hope that this might not end terribly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well! Zuko knows about the history of Maedhros and Fingon now!!! And Maglor has officially joined the gaang! We're going places.


	11. Not a Chapter

Hey! This story is being worked on, I just started school so I'm working on finding time. The next chapter should be up next wednesday!


	12. I LIVE

ALRIGHT GUYS I'M ALIVE ONCE AGAIN

I actually had a lot of stress with school, I'm doing entirely online and I get a lot of anxiety talking to teachers and adults in general and I have to video code *shudder* but I'm getting motivation to continue this story and so help me its gonna happen.

I'm hoping to get the next chapter out next week and I want to give kudos to all my readers and the people who commented! You guys made my daaay!!!!


	13. This Canyon Sucks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter until I can get my writing flow back. The fact that I do not like the great divide episode is not helping me right now :)

Fingon yawned and looked around groggily. It was colder than it had been a couple minutes ago. Maedhros was out of the bed, getting dressed. That would explain why Fingon wasn't as comfortable as he had been earlier.

He wrapped the blankets around himself and stared at Maedhros. "Do we have to get up already?" he asked.

"Yes, Finno," Maedhros said as he looked around the room.

Fingon grumbled, it was cold outside and he said as much. Maedhros was looking in the mirror and making sure he looked presentable. Despite everything he would say, he had always cared a great deal about his appearance. "It wouldn't be cold if you didn't hoard blankets like a dragon," Maedhros said.

"I don't  _ hoard _ blankets, you're just bad at keeping them," Fingon said.

"Every night, Fingon, you steal the blankets and manage to find five more!" Maedhros said, there was a small smile on his face. While Fingon would admit he woke up with most of the blankets in the morning, they didn't multiply.

He sunk deeper into the blankets and frowned. "There's still the same amount of blankets here, I didn't get more," he said.

Maedhros checked himself over once more in the mirror before walking over to Fingon. He grabbed the edges of the blankets and Fingon's eyes widened as he realized what was going to happen. He tried to hold on to the blankets but moved too slowly to stop the inevitable. Maedhros ripped the blankets away exposing Fingon to the crisp morning air in the room. Fingon yelped and tried to grab the blankets back.

"If you want them back you're going to have to get out of bed," Maedhros declared, dragging the blankets out of reach. If he got out of bed Maedhros would just bar the way to the blankets until Fingon got dressed and by then it would be too late to go back to bed.

Fingon stood up and jumped at Maedhros wrapping his limbs around the elf as they fell to the floor. Maedhros grunted as he was slammed to the floor. Fingon smiled and tucked his head into Maedhros' chest. "You're quite warm," he said.

He felt more than heard Maedhros laughing. He felt Maedhros wrap his arms around him and smiled. It would be much more comfortable if they were back on the bed, and Fingon was actually wearing clothes. But it was comfortable enough. They laid together for a time before Maedhros shifted beneath him. "We do need to get up, I need to help Zuko with his sword work," Maedhros said

Fingon sighed but slowly sat up. Maedhros gently pushed Fingon off him and stood up, fixing his clothes. Fingon quickly got dressed and rearranged his braids before they made their wair through the boat to the deck. Climbing aboard the  _ Wani _ they found Zuko finishing his firebending training.

“When you’re done grab you swords and come back to the deck!” Maedhros called to Zuko. Zuko nodded and ran off towards his room once Iroh called the lesson for an end. The three of them stood there until Zuko returned. Maedhros unsheathed his sword and walked over to the young boy, leaving Fingon and Iroh on the edges of the deck.

“Would you enjoy a game of Pai Sho?” Iroh asked Fingon. Fingon nodded, he did like the game. He helped Iroh set up a table and sat across from him, placing his tiles on the board. They heard the clash of steel ringing across the open air.

While Fingon was looking over the board and trying to figure out his next move. Iroh looked over at Maedhros and Zuko. “Zuko has been improving greatly under Maedhros’ teachings,” he commented.

Fingon looked away from the board. Maedhros and Zuko were talking, Maedhros sometimes over exaggerated different moves with his sword. “Maedhros is one of the best swordsmen I know,” Fingon said.

Iroh nodded, “He is very skilled. And he seems to get along well with my nephew.”

“Yes,” Fingon said. Maedhros and Zuko were smiling. Maedhros was looking much happier than he had while they were setting out from Valinor.

Iroh looked up from the game and stared at Fingon. “I care about my nephew and want to see him safe,” he began. “Should he wish to accept you as his parent and you fail in your responsibilities I will not hesitate to bring you out of his life,” Iroh said.

Fingon dipped his head in acknowledgement. “I understand,” he said. “I will treat him as if he were my own.”

Iroh nodded and they continued their game. The conversation shifting over to the weather and their types of tea they should try next.

______________________

  
  


Sokka was lying outstretched along the length of Appa’s saddle, staring up at the clouds. After they had left Jet, not much had happened. Occasionally they talked with Kano, but mostly it was just boring travelling. Hopefully they land soon and make camp. Appa will need to rest and then they could finally do something. Sokka knew they needed to get to the North Pole, and he was looking forward to being surrounded by ice and snow again, it was just that there wasn’t anything for him. Katara and Aang would be learning waterbending, Kano would probably just sit alone and play his harp. Sokka knew that he wasn’t as good a warrior as he had originally thought, he might be able to find someone to teach him in the Northern Water Tribe. Except he wasn’t sure they even knew how to fight that well, they had remained neutral throughout the war.

“We should set down and set up camp,” Katara said. The sun was slowly slipping down towards the horizon. Seeing as there weren’t many trees to gather wood from, they would probably have to travel further to find fuel for a fire. “We can spend some time resting so that we can set out early tomorrow.”

Sokka sat up. “Yeah, and then maybe Kano can help us see if we can find some way to fight against Morgoth and Sauron,” he said.

Aang nodded and started guiding Appa down to earth. “Yeah! We can start on lessons to fight against them, right Kano?” he asked.

  
Kano nodded, Sokka had learned that Kano wasn’t the most active participant in conversation. A couple times you had to keep saying his name until he realized he was supposed to answer. “Yeah, that would be wise,” he said.

They landed on the edge of a cliff, a scraggly forest to their right, and the drop off onto a huge canyon to their left. Katara started ordering everyone to make camp. Sokka got stuck with making the tent. Why they were suddenly using a tent he wasn’t sure. They hadn’t used a tent for this entire journey, it wasn’t like it was going to rain or anything. Regardless, he spent the rest of the time spent getting the camp ready setting up the tent.

“You need to put the tarp on, Sokka,” Katara said from behind him. Aang had left to find food while Kano was left to unpack Appa’s saddle.

“It’s the middle of the dry season, it’s not going to rain. And the tarp makes a good blanket,” he said, tossing the tarp inside of the tent.

Katara huffed. “We should still set up the tarp, there’s a chance it could rain,” she argued.

“When it doesn’t rain I would have set the tarp up for nothing, it’s much easier this way,” Sokka answered. And both Katara and Aang could bend water to some degree, surely they would be able to dry off any supplies that did get wet. “If you think you can do it better, than maybe next time you can set up the tent,” Sokka added.

“Maybe I will next time,” she said hotly.

“Feel free to,” Sokka snapped back.

“Maybe we shouldn’t fight,” Aang said. “If we try to get along then we won’t feel as angry, surely you can find a compromise?” he added. Sokka looked over at the small Avatar. He had almost forgotten they were travelling to the North Pole and it wasn’t just another day of arguing with Katara when she thought he had done something wrong.

“It’s not my fault Sokka doesn’t know how to set up a tent,” Katara said, calming down. If Sokka had known that having a bald kid talking calmed her down he would have kept some on hand for when she complained about the chores she had to do while Sokka practiced his warrior training.

“Then why don’t you set up the tent and Sokka does, um, collecting firewood?” Aang offered, looking at the small pile of twigs in Katara’s hands a little uncertainty. Her stack of ‘firewood’ was a little pathetic, Sokka was going to mention it but Aang had interrupted their fight before he had the chance to.

Katara dropped the sticks and dragged the tarp out of the tent. “I will, Sokka can collect firewood,” she said. Sokka grabbed her sticks and threw them by the campfire. He was about to start heading for the trees when a man with white clothing came running to them.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” Aang asked.

  
The man paused to catch his breath, then looked at the group with suspicion. “I’m reserving a place for my tribe to pass through the Great Divide,” he said importantly.

“Place?” Sokka asked, why would you need to reserve a place to walk through a canyon. It wasn’t like anyone was around to stop him.

The man nodded. “For the guide to bring us safely through, I was sent ahead to make sure the Zhang doesn’t take the guide before us,” he said.

Before Sokka could ask about why they needed a guide, a group of people came out of the forest. They’re hair was crazy and they wore fur pelts. Judging by the extreme difference in their clothing, Sokka figured this might be Zhang. At that moment, he felt a rumble in the ground, and turning, saw rocks shove apart to show a path. A smiling, elderly man stood behind them, standing up out of an earthbending form.

“Alright, who’s coming through the Great Divide,” he said. “We’ll need to be leaving soon.”

The guy in white quickly waved his hand. “My tribe is coming in a few minutes and I’ve come to reserve a spot for them!”

The Zhang all looked at each other, a couple of them laughed. The guide shrugged. “I can’t guide anyone who’s not here,” he said.

Just then, a group of people dressed in clean whites came walking out of the forest in orderly rows. “See! My tribe is here, we are going first!”

“We have sick people! We need to cross today, you can wait and cross tomorrow,” snapped a fearsome women Sokka assumed was the Chief of the Zhang.

“We have elderly that need to travel to the otherside of the canyon,” the opposing chief answered. The two tribes devolved into an argument that mostly consisted of complaining about the others' lifestyles. It was kind of impressive how long they were able to use the same insult without reusing words.

“Aang, it might be time to put your peacemaking skills to the test,” Katara said.

Aang fidgeted, a hand coming up to rub the back of his head. “I’m not sure Katara, they’ve been fighting for a hundred years, this could be much more serious than some argument over chores.”

“You’re the Avatar, if anyone can do it, you can,” Sokka said encouragingly. He had solved the argument with Katara quickly, making a group get along for a day should be fine. They weren’t even fighting with weapons, so the only thing getting hurt would be pride and ego. Sokka checked to make sure he could draw his weapons quickly in case the argument took a sour turn. He was tasked with protecting Katara, and he wasn’t going to let anything happen to Aang either.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kano glance at him and nod slightly. Meanwhile, the feuding chiefs were getting louder. They both believed they had to go first, and were trying to decide whether sick people or elderly would be able to go first. Aang walked up to them and tried to gently get their attention. When that obviously wasn’t working he took a deep breath and yelled at the tribes to get them to stop. Aang got the sick and elderly on Appa, declaring they would be flown across and that the two tribes were going to have to get along for the day because they were going to be crossing the divide together whether they liked each other or not. All in all, Sokka was impressed. He didn’t think Aang had it in him to be harsh and commanding.

The only bad thing to come out of that was that they would also have to walk with the tribes. They couldn’t fly with Appa when he was carrying what looked like an already crowded saddle, not to mention the fact that without Aang the tribes would probably never be able to work together long enough to make it halfway through the canyon. Oh, and they couldn’t take food with them. At least Appa could carry their food supplies, unlike the tribes who would either have to eat now or leave the food behind.

______________________

  
  


“You seem troubled,” Kano commented as he walked beside Aang. The two quarreling tribes had split, Sokka and Katara going with different tribes to try to see the reason between the long standing feud. Aang knew he was supposed to work to keep the peace, but how could he help these people overcome their differences when he didn’t even know the reason they were fighting?

“I just don’t understand what had happened for these two tribes to hate each other so much. They are very different, but surely they can manage to get along just for the time it will take us to finish crossing the divide,” Aang explained. They already had to spend the night, and the guide was injured with more of those creatures out there.

There was also the small amount of doubt that if he wouldn’t be able to get these people to get along, what sort of chance did he have of helping the world heal after the war. If he even could win against the Firelord, and the other threats he had only just learned about thanks to Kano. “Sometimes, someone has fought for so long that they can’t let go of the fight,” Kano said.

“But how do I show them that they don’t need to fight anymore?” Aang asked.

Kano shrugged and looked along the path they were walking on. “You cannot force them to do something they don’t want to. You can only hope that they will be able to see beyond what clouds their minds.”

“But, they will be able to move on, right?”

“It is a choice each individual of those tribes must make.” Kano turned and looked at Aang. “When this war ends everyone will have to move beyond the hate and fear that they have been living in. You can do your best to help them learn how to accept those they once fought against, but the world will not return to the peace you once enjoyed.”

Aang looked away from Kano and focused on the path. He knew everything wouldn’t automatically become better after the war despite how much he wished for things to be normal again. For more peaceful times, where the airbenders still existed and the temples were full of life. He could’ve taken Katara to see them, bustling with color and life. She would’ve been able to learn waterbending in the South Pole too, instead of having to risk her life travelling with him to the Northern Watertribe. Maybe even Zuko would have been different. Aang was very rusty on how the Fire Nation worked, but he was pretty sure the prince was supposed to be in the capital, not out on the ocean chasing after the Avatar. 

Aang and Kano reached the top of a spire, looking out over the two camps of the opposing tribes. He wished he could have been down by one of those fires. He sat down as his stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t been able to eat anything since this morning. He sighed and stared down at the fires.

Kano came up behind him and sat down. “You need rest, it will help with the hunger.” Aang nodded and tried to get comfortable on the rapidly cooling rock.

“Goodnight Kano,” he said as he closed his eyes.

“Rest well, Aang.”

______________________

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder of my tumblr, please come bother me about this


	14. I Hate This Canyon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jfkldasiujasd i really hate the great divide episode and I think it's been showing
> 
> BUT I DID GET SOMETHING WRITTEN
> 
> Still a little short but we can move on to the more interesting things in my opnion because woooo I did not want to write this episode.

Maedhros finished writing out the letters that made up the writing system of Tengwar, as he had explained to Zuko. The letters were laid on a grid. The symbols were foreign to Zuko, although he would admit there was some sort of beauty in the letters. “Each of the primary letters are formed of a  _ telca  _ and a  _ lúva _ . The staff and the bow,” Maedhros said, pointing out the parts of the letter he was explaining.   
  
He ran a finger down the first column of letters. “These are the  _ Tincotéma _ ,” he said. He named the letters, the sounds foreign to Zuko’s ears. Thankfully, the writing system didn’t seem to be too complicated. Yet.

_ Tinco  _ was a simple vertical bar with an almost circular marking on it’s upper right side. The other letters,  _ ando _ ,  _ súlё _ ,  _ anto _ ,  _ númen _ , and  _ órё _ . They all shared the same bar, the markings either doubling or extending to the other side. “All the names include the sound the letter makes,” Maedhros continued. “ _ Tinco _ would make the ‘t’ sound when you see it in a word,” he said. They continued down until Zuko had heard all the names for the letters and what sounds they made.

Maedhros then added a couple small marks. “These are the  _ tehtar _ , they tell us what vowels we’ll be using for the word,” he said. “Normally, you place them above the consonant before you would make the noise. If you can’t do that, then you add it above this.” A small mark was made and Maedhros placed one of the  _ tehta _ above it.

Zuko nodded slowly, it did make some sense, but it was certainly different than what he had been used to. Maedhros continued his teachings. They continued going over the letters for about an hour. By the time they had finished, Zuko was feeling pretty confident in his ability to write and read. It still threw him off that it was read from left to right, not up and down. But it wasn’t that hard once you got the hang of it. Although, reading would be easier if he could actually understand the language it was mostly written in.

“You’ve been picking this up fast,” Maedhros commented as he organized the papers they had been using. He flipped them upside down, hiding them from Zuko’s sight. He took out a sharp looking knife and used it to cut squares out of a blank piece of paper. He grabbed the brush and wrote the letters onto the pages. Once they were dry, he stacked them into a pile and shuffled them. “We’re going to see how well you can recognize them when they’re not in order,” Maedhros explained. Zuko nodded, it made sense. It was easier to understand what the letter was when you know what place the letter is.

He pulled out the paper on the top and held it out for Zuko to see. The letter had a single bar with a closed circle on the upper right. Zuko frowned slightly as he tried to remember it was either going to be  _ tinco _ or  _ parma _ , it was just a matter of getting it right. “Uh.. _ parma _ ?” he asked. Maedhros smiled and they continued the exercise until Zuko could name all of the letters of the Tengwar without hesitation.

“You are a fast learner,” Maedhros commented as he cleaned up the papers and pens they had been using. “It would not surprise me if you are able to write fluently by the end of the week if you practice.”

Zuko felt his face color slightly at the praise and focused on cleaning the stray papers. He wasn’t that used to receiving compliments, normally it was Azula being praised for her firebending or her excellent memory. Honestly, Zuko didn’t really think he was that fast of a learner; deep inside he had no doubt that Azula would already be much farther ahead of him had she been learning this.

As though sensing his doubt, Maedhros slowed down and studied Zuko. “If you practice and work on this you’ll be speaking as well as an elf. That’s not an easy task to achieve,” he said. “I have known few men who were able to achieve complete fluency.” Zuko was still certain Azula could do it better, but if Maedhros said he had the ability to use the language as well as an elf...Well, an elf would know best, right?

The papers had all been gathered and Maedhros stood up. “Now, it’s getting closer to lunch, perhaps it would be best to head down and get something to eat.”

__________________________

Katara woke up well rested and well fed. She felt a pang of guilt, the guide  _ had _ told them not to bring any food. While she was sure that the Zhang’s had brought their own, Aang and Kano would have gone hungry. Afterall, they had no food and they were travelling alone with the injured guide. She wished she could have helped him more, all she was able to do was splint his arm and leg. At the moment, she had hoped some of the tribespeople would help, but it seemed their disagreement kept them from wanting to work together to get anything done.

And she couldn’t blame the Gan Jin after hearing what the Zhang’s had done to their sacred orb.. It sickened her to think that some people would just steal history from others! It was just like what the pirates had done when they stole that water tribe scroll. She wished they had more, if only so that she could have rescued the information. The scrolls and artifacts belonged to the Water Tribe,not some collectors somewhere else in the world.

She gathered her bed roll and fixed her tent, helping those around the camp to do the same when she had finished. “Thank you for sharing your food with me,” she told the chief as soon as they had started walking again.

The chief smiled at her. “It was the least we could do. We had some extra and we would never leave someone to starve.”

Katara nodded in agreement. Helping those of your tribe and wanderers that needed assistance was a chief’s job. They needed to be sure they could care for those under their leadership. THe Gan Jin Cheif’s actions helped to solidify her belief that they were good people, and that the Zhang’s needed to pay for what they had done. It had been so long since that event, Katara didn’t think the sacred orb would ever be found again.

Her hand reached up to touch her necklace, remembering the time Zuko had stolen it from her. She feared she wouldnt’ ever get it back, and then when she was held captive. She wouldn’t admit it, but tied to that tree with Maedhros standing over her had been terrifying. It was the first time she had ever actually felt like her life was truly in danger. And if what Kano had said was true, she had been in much more danger than she had thought.

They continued walking until they emerged into an open part of the canyon. Coming from the same direction were the Zhang’s and Sokka. She thanked the Gan Jin’s again and walked to meet up with Sokka. She could see Aang gliding above, and Kano helping the guide down to the two tribes.

“Katara, Sokka, will these people cooperate long enough to get out of the canyon?” Aang asked.

Katara shook her head, after what the Zhang’s had done to the sacred orb she was surprised they had been willing to travel this far with them. “I don’t think so, Aang, the Zhangs really wronged the Gan Jins. They ambushed Jin Wei and stole the sacred orb,” she explained.

Aang’s grey eyes filled with confusion. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

Sokka looked equally confused, if not more. “Yeah Katara, what are you talking about? Wei Jin didn’t steal the orb, he was returning it to their village gate and was wrongfully punished by the Gan Jin.”

“Wasn’t punished enough, if you ask me.” She crossed her arm. If that were true, the Gan JIn would have had their sacred orb. Obviously whoever told Sokka that story had to have been lying.

“Why are you so upset?” Kano’s voice interrupted before Sokka could start to continue the argument. He had made it down the cliff and over to them whilst they were talking.

“The Gan Jins betrayed the Zhang’s when they were simply trying to help return teh sacred orb and katara is saying he wasn’t punished enough for being thrown into prison despite doing nothing wrong!” Sokka exclaimed hotly.

Katara felt herself fume. The Gan Jins had done nothing wrong! The sacred orb was stolen from them during a ritual and it was never returned. She opened her mouth to say so when Aang interrupted.

“Guys! You’re acting like the Zhangs and the Gan Jins and what happened doesn't even affect you personally! Can we please stop fighting and work together, the faster we get out of this canyon the faster we can eat and get to the Northern Water Tribe,” Aang said. Katara was reminded guiltily of the food she had eaten last night, and the fact that Aang wasn’t able to eat anything.

“Of course,” Sokka said. “Except we still need to find a way out of the canyon. Our guide can’t bend, and you haven’t learned earthbending either unless you suddenly learned all the elements last night.”

Aang shook his head. “No, I was thinking of asking the two tribes if they would be willing to work together to find a way out, otherwise we’re going to be stuck here for quite a bit.”

Katara nodded, it was a good idea. Although she wasn’t sure the Gan Jins would be willing to work with the Zhangs after that theft. And from what Sokka had told her, the Zhangs didn’t want to work with the Gan Jins. Perhaps if they truly knew the importance of getting out of the canyon as soon as possible they would be willing to put their feud on hold just for the moment.

“What are you going to do if they don’t listen? People generally aren’t happy when somethings been stolen from them and they can’t get it back,” Kano said. Aagn deflated a little.

“I hadn’t thought of that, I was hoping that if they could just see the bigger picture they’d be willing to work together. Surely them getting out of this canyon is more important than what happened 100 years ago, right?” he asked hopefully. Katara wanted to reassure him that it was an excellent idea, she was sure it would work. After all, it was very hard to say no to Aang, and he was the Avatar.

Kano looked like he wanted to say something else, but just nodded and followed them as they made their way to the tribes. The Zhangs and the Gan Jin were already arguing once again. As they got closer it became apparent that someone had mentioned the problem that the incapictated guide had posed. Perhaps they had originally tried to find a way out of the canyon, but it had devolved into the two tribe leaders insulting each other while their respective tubes yelled supportment from the sidelines.

Aang quickly moved between the two fighting chiefs, “Guys, we need to stop fighting just long enough to think of a way out of this canyon! The sooner we are out, the sooner you can go your separate ways.”   
  
“Perhaps the Zhang can climb the wall with their long disgusting fingernails,” the Gan Jin chief said.

The Zhang leader scowled angrily. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know unclipped fingernails was a crime punishable by 20 years in jail!” she snapped back.

Suddenly, a loud clap disturbed the two chiefs. Katara turned and saw Aang, his staff touching the canyon floor. He must have used his airbending to make a loud enough sound to catch everyone’s attention. “How many times do I have to tell you! Harsh words won’t solve your problems, action will!” he said, Katara could hear the anger in his voice. He must really want to get out of this canyon, and she couldn’t blame him. It must be even worse with the hunger and the fact that Appa wasn’t there to help them get out of the situation. For a moment, she regretted not taking Appa. It would have been so much faster and they wouldn’t have had to deal with this. Then again, if anything had gone the way it had without them, she didn’t think the two tribes would have gotten this far.

“Perhaps the Avatar is right,” The Zhang leader said, stepping away from her position.

The Gan Jin chief nodded in agreement, “Yes, perhaps he is.” Katara was a little stunned. That was all it took for them to get along? 

  
“Harsh words will never solve our problems-” The Zhang leader started.

“Action will!” the Gan Jin chief yelled as he drew his sword. The two charged at each other. Aang jumped away from them, obviously distressed. He fluttered around the two fighting leaders, trying to get their attention and telling them to stop.

Katara heard a quiet sigh from behind her and turned. Kano was striding forward his sword in his hand. He entered the fight and within seconds had both leaders disarmed with their weapons thrown to the side. “Fighting between yourselves will accomplish nothing. You cannot right whatever wrongs you have perceived against each other. For now, you need to work with us to get out of the canyon before the canyon crawlers come back,” he snapped at the two chiefs.

“There’s no way out of this canyon though! The only earthbender can’t even bed,” the Zhang leader complained.

“Then I’ll guess we’ll have to find a different way out of the canyon,” Kano answered, drawing back his swords slowly in case the two chiefs had any ideas. They stood up and gathered their weapons. There were some glares but they didn’t try to fight again. “Now does anyone have any ideas on how to get out of the canyon without earthbending?”

Katara looked around. The sun was just starting to peak over the tall rocks. She really didn’t want to spend another day in this canyon, but she didn’t know any way they could get out without earthbending. It sounded like Kano wasn’t willing to sing either like he did with the river. “What if we use the canyon crawlers?” Sokka asked. “They seem to be good at climbing, if we can find a way to ride them we can use them to crawl up the cliff!”

“How are we going to do that, there aren’t enough crawlers around, and we have nothing to use as saddles!” she said. Sometimes she wondered where her brother’s brain was. The last canyon crawler almost ate the guide, and they didn’t have anything to attract the monsters.

Sokka grinned at her. “Yes, we do!” he said. He quickly ran into the Zhang tribe, opening some bags and dumping out food.

“YOU GUYS BROUGHT FOOD!” Aang yelled. Katara winced, she had almost forgotten about the fact that both tribes had brought food with them. “You endangered all of us because of what? A couple snacks!” he said, pointing his staff at the Zhang leader.

“We only brought food because the Gan Jin would have done the same! Why should we starve while another tribe gets to eat!” she snapped at Aang.

“Because the food must have attracted the crawlers! It was your selfishness that caused the guide to get injured in the first place!” Aang looked like he was about to fight the Zhang leader himself.

Sokka grabbed his arms, keeping the kid from hurting himself. “Aang, we can use this to attract more canyon crawlers. If the food attracts them we can find a way to ride them up the walls.”

“How are you going to ride one?” Katara asked.

Sokka grinned. “Watch,” he said, pointing to the forms of three canyon crawlers as they emerged out into the open. As everyone else noticed the crawlers they screamed and scrambled to get away.

“Sokka you’re going to get hurt!” Katara called, grabbing her brother’s arm.

He shook her off. “No, watch. I’ve got this,” he said. The bag was open in his hands and he had his eyes fixed on the lead crawler. As it got closer he ran to it. Sokka held the bag open, to Katara’s surprise, the crawler stuck it’s face into it and Sokka was able to crawl onto the creature’s back. It growled, but would walk where it’s head was turned. “See! Now everyone just needs to do what I did,” he said. It didn’t look to hard, the crawler’s weren’t trying to attack anyone, they had gone straight for the food on the ground.

Eventually, everyone had managed to get a crawler, most people were sharing one. But they had found a way out of the canyon. Once they had gotten to the top of the canyon, the crawlers were released. With the added incentive of throwing food off the side of the cliff, no one was hurt by them. “That wasn’t such a bad idea,” Katara told Sokka as Aang hugged Appa. Kano was talking to the leaders about something, she couldn’t hear it from where she was standing, but he must have been telling them something to get the two tribes to work together.

“It was a great idea,” Sokka said. “After all, it was one of mine.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tinco (quenya) = Metal  
> Ando (quenya) = Gate  
> Súlё (quenya) = Spirit  
> Anto (quenya) = Mouth  
> Númen (quenya) = West  
> Órё (quenya) = Heart  
> Parma (quenya) = Book  
> Tehtar (quenya) = Signs
> 
> My sources were the appendices in the back of Lord of the Rings and I looked at the Silmarillion at one point.


	15. Music Man Forgets to Mention Money

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I RETURN
> 
> Hopefully chapters will start coming mroe regularly.

Aang laughed as he flew with Appa. They drifted through fluffy clouds, a warm breeze blowing across his face. He turned to his right, Sokka flying up alongside him using a glider. On his left, Momo flew up, Katara riding on his head. “We need you Aang,” Katara said.

Aang smiled. “I need you, too,” he said.

Something flashed in the corner of his eye. Aang turned around and saw huge storm clouds creeping closer. Lightning flashed deep within the storm, he pulled on Appa’s reigns, they needed to get away from it. “Be careful guys!” he called, warning Katara and Sokka. But when he turned they weren’t around him. He couldn’t see a single sign of his friends in the darkening clouds. “Guys?” he asked, his voice dropping quietly. They had just been next to him, where had they gone?

Aang returned his gaze to in front of him, coming face to face with Gyatso. “Gyatso?” he asked, surprised. Why was Gyatso here, he wasn’t anywhere near the temple.

“Why did you disappear?” Gyatso whispered. He sounded so sad, but Aang hadn’t meant to leave! He had just been so scared that he was going to be sent away. Aang reached his hand forwards, hoping to hug Gyatso and tell him he was sorry, but just as he reached him the old monk turned to ash, flowing over Aang’s face.

“Gyatso!” Aang shouted. The sky darkened and Aang looked up in horror to find himself in the midst of a great storm. The clouds sparked with lightning and Aang could hear great wingbeats and the roaring of thunder and  _ something else _ .

“We need you, Aang,” he heard Gyatso state. When he looked around, Aang couldn’t see the monk anywhere. There were only the flashes of lightning and glimpses of  _ things  _ in the clouds. Suddenly, Aang found himself underwater, the reigns to Appa slipping out of his hands. “We need you, Aang. We need you. We need you, Aang. We need you,” he could hear Gyatso and Katara telling him.

  
He jerked awake with a gasp. He found himself lying in the open, the soft sounds of Kano singing flowed over the small encampment. Momo chittered at him, Aang must have disturbed the lemur’s sleep, and jumped over to lay on top of Sokka. He sat up, not really wanting to go back to sleep, and wandered closer to Kano.

The song Kano was singing sounded so sad, it was much like the song he had heard during music night. This song felt heavier and more full of grief and a strange longing. He sat down next to the man, listening as the song softly ended. “You should be resting,” Kano said, his hands still softly plucking notes.

Aang sat down next to him, wrapping his arms around his legs. He really didn’t want to go to sleep after that nightmare. “I know,” he said instead.

“What did you dream about?” Kano asked.

“Nothing,” Aang lied.

Kano stopped playing and looked at Aang, one eyebrow raised in disbelief. “Aang, I know what someone looks like when they wake from a nightmare. You don’t need to tell me, but it won’t help if you don’t tell someone about it eventually,” he explained.

“I’m scared I won’t be able to end the war,” Aang finally said. “Or when I’m needed, I won’t be there to help.” It’s what he had done when he had heard that he was going to be sent away, maybe if Aang had been there the Air Nomads would have survived. What if he did the same thing when the time came to fight the Fire Lord, or whoever it was that is with Zuko.

“If anyone can end the war, it’ll be you,” Kano said. “I’m not saying do it alone, but if anyone can do it, it’s you.”

Aang nodded, he knew it was his duty as Avatar to end the war and bring peace, but he was still scared. “Let’s get back to bed,” Kano said, standing up. Aang followed Kano back to the campsite. Kano sat next to him and started playing softly on his harp. Aang felt a warm feeling wash over him and closed his eyes. He didn’t dream for the rest of the night.

_________________________

Working for the banished prince was strange, Jee noted. At first, he hadn’t known what to think about Prince Zuko. He seemed every bit the loud, uncaring, snobby prince he pretended to be. But he did care about his crew’s lives. Not to mention the prince melted in the sight of a turtleduck or other small creature. By agreement, none of the crew mentioned anything about the prince’s softer moments. He was surprisingly touchy about respect, although being part of the royal family seemed like it would do that to you.

Following the prince around on his quest to find the Avatar had led to several strange encounters, although the men that had practically adopted him were some of the strangest. They seemed almost human, but at the same time they were amazingly far from being mortal. Their eyes glowed almost as though it was filled with Agni’s light.

They were unnaturally graceful and silent too, just enough to unnerve you until you got used to being around them. They were good for Zuko though, Jee had noticed the prince’s outbursts being less often since Maedhros and Fingon had joined them.

Even with the prince being calmer, that didn’t mean he didn’t have his bad days.

“The safety of the crew doesn’t matter!” he yelled.

Today looked like it would be a bad day. Although when the prince turns and realizes Jee had noticed what he said his face dropped before pulling the rage filled expression back on. “Finding the Avatar is more important than any individual's safety,” he said, staring Jee straight in the eyes before storming away.

“Is something troubling Zuko?” Fingon asked. He and Maedhros had climbed back onto the  _ Wani _ from their boat, probably having been woken up from the prince’s yelling. If they actually sleep.

General Iroh turned and looked at the two elves. “He’s just in a bad mood, give him some time,” he said.

  
“I presume it has something to do with the storm coming in?” Fingon asked. That must have been part of the conversation Jee had missed. Even with a clear sky, he had learned that Iroh was quite good at predicting the weather.

Except the sky wasn’t that clear. Dark clouds had appeared in the distance, the storm Iroh had warned the prince about. Jee would much rather sail away from it then directly into the storm, the course they were taking would take them straight into the rough waters.

“Is there anywhere close where we can wait out the storm?” Maedhros asked Jee. It was one of the first time they had actually talked.

  
“Uh, no, the closest town lies directly through the storm,” Jee said, thinking over the maps he had memorized in his head. On a clear day they would reach the town before Agni sets, with the storm it would take much longer.

Maedhros hummed and looked out at the storm. “How upset is Zuko?” he asked.

“Quite upset,” Iroh said.

“If he’s anything like you he’s not going to listen to anyone,” Fingon commented as Zuko stormed onto the deck. Whatever he had decided to do below decks obviously hadn’t managed to calm him down. If anything, the young prince looked more upset.

He glared at the storm in the distance as though it had personally offended him, then whipped around to face Jee. “Shouldn’t you be working instead of sitting here looking at clouds?” he snapped.

“I need to know what the weather will be like so we can prepare for the storm,” Jee explained. He knew Zuko wasn’t actually going to do anything too rash, and that in a couple days he’ll just be his normal grumpy self, so he was doing his best not to argue back.

Zuko looked back at the approaching storm. “Well, you’ve seen it, now get back to work.” Jee decided not to argue and nodded, heading back up to the helm. It was going to be a long day.

_________________________

Maedhros watched the Lieutenant leave, he was an intelligent man and Maedhros would like to speak to him more. Although perhaps now would not be the best time, with the oncoming storm and Zuko being upset about something it wouldn’t be a good idea to distract the one steering the ship. He and Fingon would have to return to their own ship before they hit the storm if they wanted to ensure it wouldn’t be damaged.

Zuko was still staring at the storm as though he could force it to leave with his gaze alone. Maedhros studied him, reading his body language for clues of what was making him upset. Zuko was tense, as though waiting for an attack. One of his hands was tracing the burn scar on his face.

That must be one of the primary reasons for Zuko’s bad mood. Maedhros couldn’t quite remember how long it took for scars to heal for men, but he knew the wound was old. Zuko must have gotten it when he was quite young. Too young to have received that wound in battle, and he must have had some protection. Zuko was the prince, after all, he must have been protected from the war when he was only a child.

“Fingon and I will have to return to our own ship before the storm comes,” Maedhros said. Zuko turned and looked up at him. “It would be wise to stay belowdecks.”

Zuko bristled angrily, “I won’t be able to see the Avatar if I’m belowdecks,” he snapped.

“The Avatar will be waiting out the storm. You can not capture him if you are washed overboard by a wave,” Maedhros explained.

Zuko looked as though he was going to argue before he realized what Maedhros had said was true. Instead, he crossed his arms and stalked towards the doors, presumably heading towards his room. With his scar bothering him, it seemed that his want to capture the Avatar had grown. “Why is he so insistent on capturing the Avatar?” Maedhros asked. He knew it was important to Zuko, and as such was willing to help; but it wouldn’t do any harm to know what the purpose was, and why the Avatar was so important.

“He’s not allowed to return to the Fire Nation unless he has captured the Avatar,” Iroh said quietly. “He was banished.”   
  
“Banished? He’s the prince, why would his father banish him?” Fingon asked. It didn’t make much sense to get rid of your heir. He didn’t know anyone who would actually banish their own kid.

Iroh sighed. “Zuko has never been the son my brother wanted. He was always seen as too kind and gentle. Ozai has always seen his sister, Azula, as the perfect heir. When he was given a chance to get rid of Zuko he jumped at the chance,” he explained.

“He banished Zuko and sent him on a chase to get the Avatar,” Maedhros summed up. Iroh nodded. “And not a single person tried telling him it is wrong? For a  _ father _ to banish his own  _ son _ sending him onto a quest in which he might not even succeed for no reason other than he preferred a different heir?” he said. Nothing like this had ever happened in all the long years he had been alive.

“It is commonly a death sentence to speak out to Ozai. Zuko’s status as crown prince may have been the only thing that saved him,” Iroh said. Maedhros’ hand dropped down to his sword hilt the shape of it reassuring under his palm. For a moment, he imagined the shining blade running through Ozai’s body. It wouldn’t heal the hurts that Maedhros was sure Zuko had sustained under that man’s care, but it would make Maedhros feel better. The idea that a father would only restrain himself from killing his own  _ son _ simply because of what would have been political backlash was horrific.

Fingon had the same idea, if his angry silence was anything to go by. “That is how he gained his scar, is it not?” Iroh nodded solemnly. “I believe I speak for both of us when I state we will gladly separate Ozai’s  _ fëa  _ from his  _ hröa _ ,” Fingon growled.

Maedhros nodded in agreement. Ozai sounded worse than the very orcs they had fought against. To irreversibly scar his own son as though the ties of blood meant nothing. There was no telling what horrors he could cause to those he commanded. There would be no mercy against those who disobeyed. The storm was closer, he and Fingon would need to return to their ship and make preparations against the upcoming storm. “We need to return to our ship for the storm, Fingon,” Maedhros said. He didn’t want to end the discussion, wanted Iroh to tell him that he was wrong, that Zuko truly hadn’t gone through that. But in his heart he knew it to be true.

Fingon looked down, his fists clenched. “Yes, make sure Zuko doesn’t do anything stupid for us,” he said. Iroh nodded and they returned to their ship, making sure things were tied down and ready to go through the storm.

_________________________

Maglor continued playing on his harp long after Aang had fallen asleep. It was calming, and strumming the familiar notes of a lullaby he had played for Elrond and Elros gave him time to think. Had it truly been the right course of action to seek out the Avatar? Maglor believed he knew the threats at hand, and could perhaps give some valuable information; but he didn’t believe it was safe for him to travel with them for long. He could have killed someone at the Great Divide very easily. Disarming the two arguing chiefs was frighteningly easy. Travelling with the Avatar would lead to more dangerous foes, and Maglor may be forced to take a life. While it wouldn’t be as horrible as killing another elf, he still found himself loathe to kill anyone. It wouldn’t change anything now, and certainly wouldn't fix the mistakes he had made in the past, but Maglor never wanted to take a life by his sword if he could avoid it.

The Edain were so easily led astray, and it seemed like they rarely had time to realize the mistakes they had made. Maglor didn’t want to kill more of them because they were fighting a war they shouldn’t have been forced to fight. Especially now that the threats were higher. It was only a matter of time before they came across Zuko, and the two Ainu that Maglor was sure were travelling with him. They may have already ensnared the young prince, but it might not be too late. There could still be a chance to undo the damage. Perhaps by fighting against the Dark Vala, Maglor may be able to repent of some of his deeds. The blood of those he had killed would always be on his hands, but this time he could try to do right. Which means helping the Avatar prepare.

The Avatar, Aang, who was so young, even in the ages of men. This was no place for a child, but Maglor had no say in this. He could only do his best to help, and avoid repeating history. Seeing that Aang had fallen into a deep sleep, and would no longer need Maglor’s music, he stopped playing and stared into the dying ashes of their fire. The night was warm, but it would get colder as they continued to travel, and Maglor could feel a storm approaching. They would need to buy supplies quickly and leave the area before they were trapped by a storm.

He stayed beside Aang for the rest of the night, occasionally playing some lighter songs. Hewas fairly sure playing the  _ Noldelantë _ had helped to contribute to the nightmare Aang had earlier that night. As Arien rose into the sky the group woke up. “We need to hurry and pack up, we need to get to the Northern Water Tribe as fast as we can,” Maglor said as soon as he noticed his companions' state.

“Alright, let’s just get some food and then we can be on our way,” Sokka said, grabbing one of their bags. Maglor watched with some amusement as Sokka gained more desperation as his search for food came up empty. “This is a disaster! We can’t go on with no food,” Sokka said as he laid on the ground dramatically. “I don’t know how I’ll survive now that we have no food.”

Katara gently kicked her brother. “You’re fine Sokka, we’ll pick up supplies in the village and then continue heading for the Northern Water tribe,” sheh said, gathering up the bags. Maglor joined in and helped load the supplies onto Appa.

“We will need to be quick, there’s a storm coming,” Malgor said. Everyone looked up to the sky.

“Kano, I think your eyes need to be checked. There’s nothing there,” Sokka said.

Aang fidgeted nervously. He must not like storms, Maglor realized. Though it seemed strange for an airbender to have an obvious dislike of storms. He could remember times when one could see airbenders daring the skies during storms, zipping around the lightning and playing with the furious winds. “I think we should trust Kano on this. Let’s just hurry up and get the supplies so we can get out of the area.”

“Fine, let’s just buy some supplies and then get out of here,” Sokka said. “But there’s no way Kano can predict a storm. The skies are completely clear! I can’t see a single cloud!” he said gesturing to the blue sky.

Maglor rolled his eyes in amusement. He understood being skeptical, after all, they didn’t know of Maglor’s full capabilities, but that won’t make it any less amusing when he gets to see Sokka’s face when they are faced with the storm.

_________________________

Something was bothering Aang, Katara knew it. He hadn’t been sleeping well, and he seemed strangely tense at the idea of a storm rolling in. She wanted to ask him about it , but she wasn't sure he would answer. Perhaps after the storm had passed she would talk to him. For now, they all needed to focus on getting supplies. Some warmer clothes would be needed, as well as more food.

The market was pleasant. Not too loud or crowded, but with enough people that they wouldn’t stand out too much. Perhaps it would do better to find some other clothes, not many of the Water Tribes are seen outside the poles. But they could barely scrape by buying food, they didn’t have money for new clothes.

Katara decided to start with some fruits first. Sokka could complain about how much he loved meat, but she knew he loved fruits. They had gotten so little in the South Pole, she could hardly believe that other people could just walk to the market and by a watermelon. Although, the watermelons that the merchant was selling seemed a little...suspicious.

“It’s good, I’m telling you!” the merchant said. She must have been becoming a little annoyed with how Katara was judging the melons. Picking one up, Katara shook it a little. The melon made a sloshing noise.

“I’m not sure I like the sound of all that swishing,” she said uncertainty. From what she could remember, watermelon wasn’t supposed to swish like that.

“Swishing means it’s ripe! All the rip juices swishing around!” The merchant said. Katara was almost sure the fruit was not ripe. There was also the problem of them having no money, they wouldn’t be able to buy the fruit anyways.

She set it back with the others and gave the merchant a polite smile. “Sorry, I just remembered we’re out of money anyways,” she said. The merchant scowled and grabbed the basket of fruit Sokka had been filling up.

“Great, no money and no food,” Sokka grumbled as they walked away from the stall.

“How are we going to get supplies now?” Aang asked.

There was only one way they would be able to afford it. “We need to earn some money, maybe someone around here needs some help,” she said.

Kano looked like he wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by an arguing couple. “We shouldn’t go out there! There’s a storm coming!” the women said.

The man stormed past her. “There’s not a cloud in the sky! Quit your nagging, women,” he snapped. Katara frowned, surely he could have been kinder about that. SHe wasn’t sure there was a storm coming in either, but she knew how quickly one could appear from an otherwise nice day.

“Maybe we should find some shelter,” Aang said nervously. He must really not like storms. Katara wanted them to finish their shopping quickly. She wanted to make sure Aang was comfortable.

Sokka crossed his arms. “Guys, there’s not going to be a storm. There’s not a single cloud!” he said.

“Sokka, there could still be a storm. Besides, there’s now two people who have already said that!” Katara said.

“So you’d rather believe a random woman we just overheard and Kano,” Sokka said. “There’s not going to be a storm, and I’m going to get us some money so we can buy food and get out of here.” Sokka ran over to catch up the arguing couple. Katara huffed in annoyance, why did he always have to argue so much. Was it really that hard to believe that some people were better at predicting weather than others?

“Sokka won’t take too long, right?” Aang asked as they watched Sokka strike a deal with the fisherman. He gave them a thumbs up before boarding the boat.

  
“If it does storm I’m sure they’ll be able to make it back to port,” Katara assured him. “And if not, we can always go save him.” Aang nodded, he still looked nervous but at least he didn’t look like he was about to start running for the hills.

Kano moved up beside them. “I still have some money on me if we want to go and buy some supplies,” he said, a note of amusement in his voice. “I had been trying to tell you, but it seems Sokka is set on being as stubborn as my brothers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maglor was going to mentiont he aspect of money, but someone *looks at Sokka* wouldn't be quiet enough for Malgor to state that.

**Author's Note:**

> I live for comments, sooooo, I would really appreciate if you leave one below :)))))))
> 
> (but if you don't want to or feel awkward doing it you don't have to I don't want to force you to do anything!)
> 
> Attempts to update Wednesday and Saturday!
> 
> My tumblr is @enter_witty_remark come bother me about this!


End file.
